Andy Kemp

Have you worked at JE since you left full-time education?

I left school at 16 with 8 GCSE’s to go straight out to work. I was not one for university and a career with JE was seen as an excellent opportunity to grow and develop through Apprenticeships and a great mentoring program.

What was your first role at JE?

My first job at JE was as a Trainee Storekeeper. Here I learned how to book in, issue, deliver and re-order from a large inventory which would have been 4-5 times the size of the one we now hold due to the much longer lead times back then.

What made you go for that role?

For me the role was not that important and the main attraction was employment with a long established top tier organisation. I knew that once I was in, JE had a reputation for promotion within and I liked the sound of that.

How have your skills developed during your time with JE?

I have had a lot of great role models and colleagues who have encouraged me to “give it a go”.

I quickly moved through the ranks within our Stores Department when I was encouraged by our current Procurement Manager to take his role as the Purchasing Officer within our very busy Service Department as he was going off travelling.

At this time I was very young to take on this responsibility, as it came with a lot of pressure from customer expectation to management of engineers ensuring they had all the correct jobs and parts for each day’s work. I learned early on that you need to build relationships, as these people would be your support structure. Team work and trust will see you through most situations and we are stronger as a team.

About 7 years into my JE career an opportunity arose in Finance to gain a professional qualification as a Management Accountant. Again it was a colleague who encouraged me to apply. I was successful and JE assisted greatly by allowing day release over the 3 year qualification.

How has JE supported your career decisions?

JE has offered me a lot of development opportunities. I do not feel that I have missed-out by sticking with the same employer throughout my long career at JE. We have a policy of internal promotion when practical and this has proved the basis for my long career.

Finally, what advice would you give someone just starting out in their chosen career?

Give it your all as you will be surprised at what you can achieve.