My professional development journey with NAL:
Luke Pawley – internal sales coordinator
At NAL, we believe in giving our workforce the opportunities to grow within their roles and elevate their career to the next level, which is why we pride ourselves on supporting their professional development.
Meet Luke Pawley. Luke is part of the internal sales team and is responsible for supporting our customers with his extensive product knowledge and quoting for upcoming schemes. However, Luke’s role was very different when he first joined the business, so join us as we ask him about his experience.
How long have you been working at NAL?
I have now been with NAL for 7 years.
Tell us about your first role when you started; what did a typical day look like?
When I first joined NAL, I was employed in the warehouse. We had a small team of five who became close friends. On a typical day, we would pick and pack around 60-80 pallets. We also unloaded deliveries and loaded pallets onto our courier to ensure we could achieve next-day delivery.
We would also modify products such as cutting retention sockets down and welding products. Being in the warehouse gave me a great understanding of the products and infrastructure used within highways, street lighting and traffic signals, and every day became a learning day. We regularly had chats with the technical regarding the products, which also helped us.
How has your career progressed since your time in the warehouse, and how did that opportunity present itself to you?
Since my time in the warehouse, I have progressed to the internal sales coordinator role. The opportunity to progress into this role became available, and I approached the senior leadership team at the time, who were very accommodating. After some discussion, it was suggested that I work 3 days in the warehouse and 2 days in the office to learn the process, and the systems stand me in good stead for when the position was available.
Tell us about your current role. What's the most enjoyable aspect, and what do you find the most challenging?
I enjoy my role because no day is the same, from speaking to customers and suggesting solutions to support their schemes to receiving feedback and helping to develop our products.
Due to my knowledge and experience, I have also taken responsibility for managing EV enquiries and regularly supporting OEMs and CPOs by setting up project-specific digital share points with technical drawings and related content.
I also contribute to our demo days by performing live knockdowns of poles and columns, demonstrating how our retention sockets perform on impact. This allows me to meet customers face-to-face and discuss problems and solutions in greater detail.
Please tell us how the business has changed since you began working in the warehouse.
Since joining CRH, I have noticed some significant yet positive changes.
From experience, staff have far more opportunities to progress in their careers, such as internal courses and training.
The most significant change is, of course, the emphasis on health and safety. CRH has made it clear they want their staff to be safe to ensure everyone goes home at the end of the day. Even since I left the warehouse, there have been major changes to processes and procedures to remove the risks involved in that role.
Have you had any further opportunities to progress your professional development?
There have been various opportunities. I had the pleasure of taking part in the Southwest EDP course, a great programme that taught me about other CRH companies and their products and allowed me to explore how we can work collaboratively to supply innovation and sustainable solutions.
I can also attend live sites to witness installations, which helps develop my product understanding to support our customers with the best advice possible.
Don't just take Luke's words for it...
We gave the rest of our staff across multiple departments the opportunity to share their own thoughts and experiences of working for NAL.
NAL is a CRH company, sistered with Cubis and FILOform. As a group, we are always looking to nurture new talent. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest job opportunities and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest projects and developments.