Kevin Jones is an Accounts & Shipping Clerk with Gill & Robinson Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne.

“My previous job in retail management with one of the big supermarket chains wasn’t making good use of my HND in Business & Finance so I decided to change sector and applied for the job with Gill & Robinson when it was advertised locally. It’s a very pleasant working environment and much better working hours. I also enjoy DIY so the chance to get to know more about timber types and uses is fascinating. Pay-wise, we don’t earn the same as solicitors but our company is certainly very generous!

“No two days are the same for me: my job description is only the starting point of my involvement in the business. I have a lot of contact with people from different countries and cultures, particularly with Scandinavia and the Baltic states. I make sure that shipping documents for our customers’ timber are processed correctly and that Bills of Lading, insurance and contract documents are all correct. You must give your customer the best possible service and this sometimes involves solving challenging problems for them, for example re-arranging deliveries by working with shippers to find vessels to carry the timber sooner or later than was originally contracted. When changes occur, I often act as a negotiator between the customer’s revised requirements and the mills and shippers involved in fulfilling them. I’m certainly aiming to stay with the job and develop my role further.

“I wish I’d been able to learn more about the timber sector at school. I studied A-level geography and we were taught about illegal logging and the damage to tropical rainforests. Now I’m in the timber business I know that most of the industry isn’t like that. By far the majority of the timber entering the UK comes from forests managed to ensure their future. I think the industry needs to get this point across through mainstream education. People just don’t realise that sustainably-managed timber is a truly renewable resource.”