We speak to Jamie Sandilands about his career journey and his position as specifications sales director for Grant Westfield.
Jamie, could you start by telling us a little bit about your role?
I’ve been at Grant Westfield about 16 months. When I started, they had recently invested in a specification team for the first time and were looking for someone with experience across the full project sector to lead this new unit. My role is to develop a clear strategy and vision for specifications within the business and to build, coach, motivate and support my team in line with our goals adding value to our clients’ projects whilst building long-term relationships and industry leading service levels.
How many people are there in your team?
I’ve got four specification managers on the road, a specification coordinator who makes appointments for them, and we’re backed up by a customer support agent exclusively for specification, and a contract support person. We have plans for this to continue to expand in line with our rapid growth across the project sector.
Can you take us through your career story?
Last year marked my 30th year in the plumbing , heating, and bathroom industry, having started out in the merchants as a trade counter assistant / warehouseman.
Whilst I enjoyed my job, I found I didn’t really like going to the same place every day. I used to watch the sales reps coming in and think ‘that looks all right’, getting out and seeing different people.
After about two years, I took up a sales rep job at William Wilson’s [now part of Wolseley], and worked from their Glasgow office, covering Central Scotland. A brilliant experience and I got to know people right across the sector.
Eventually I went back to Plumb Center as a branch manager and opened two new branches for them.
I made my first step into the manufacturing side of the industry in 2003 at Mira Showers in a specification role for Scotland, the North of England and Ireland, looking after small, regional, and national housebuilders before developing into national management roles. I was there for 14 years.
An ex-colleague was the sales director at RAK Ceramics. They wanted to build a project team, so he invited me to go and start that from scratch. An eye-opening, good experience as national sales manager. I was there just under six years. Then the Multipanel/Grand Westfield opportunity came up and I find myself here.
What are your duties?
The first thing I had to do when I when I came in and set the team up was create a five-year strategy for the team, aligned to the overall sales strategy.
We focus on three key markets – new build, hospitality, and social housing.
We talk about the top 200 housebuilders a lot and I deal with the top five for a couple of reasons: one, I’ve got the experience in that sector; and secondly, it’s a long, drawn-out process to get on the tender and I would like to see my team dealing with more regional housebuilders to deliver a quicker response.
I’m not one who can just sit about the office and tell people what to do. I like to still be hands-on, with the feedback you get in the market, new trends, and customer intelligence you learn when you’re out in the field.
But the largest part of the day is looking after the guys within the team, making sure that they are supported and have everything that they need.
What are the prospects for you and the team?
I keep telling everybody in the business that the longer-term goal is not to have a specification team but to build a department with a housebuilder team, a hotel team, a hospitality team, and a team that does more generic specification. None of it will happen overnight but that is 100% the goal.
The coaching and nurturing of the team right now probably take a lot more of my time than it will maybe in two- or three-years’ time because they’ll be coaching and nurturing each other by then. But you’ve got to go through those steps and build the proper foundations.
Is the whole business a close-knit team?
There is clearly a hierarchy within any business, but our MD John Mortimer is unbelievably approachable. His office is off the main office, but you’ll never find him there! He’s always out there, popping his head over people’s shoulders and chatting to them. If my team can’t get hold of me on the phone, he or Michael [Dobson], the sales director and my line manager, will be available to talk to.
It’s a great company to work for. Everybody is really personable, there are no airs or graces. In terms of supporting us, anything I’ve asked for so far has been given.
Have you ever been tempted to sort of cross sides into the house building industry?
No is the quick answer! I respect the job done by my customers and admire the level of detail and due diligence they go through, but I have found the side of the industry where I feel I am most suited and enjoy the challenges and the role so no, it’s not for me.
I love being out on the road. I love meeting new people. And I love working with the guys I’ve got working with me just now.
I know some of those [housebuilding] companies are great to work. My customers, past and present, are friends now as well, and often meet socially.
What’s the year ahead got in store for you?
Whilst we will continue to develop all three of our key drivers in 2025 a huge focus will be on Housebuild. New NHBC regulations regarding the tanking and wall covering areas in the bathroom has led to many developers contacting us to discuss our products and understanding how we can help with this. We have the compatible products, a published EPD offering huge carbon savings against tiles and a range of products that are design inspired, whilst the ease of installation and maintenance free gives a compelling story to talk about. It is extremely exciting times ahead.
