Brad Stanley

Sales Manager

Brad joined The Royal Navy at 18 as an Aircraft Engineering Technician (AET), before leaving and joining the Unimaq team as one of our Mechanical Fitters. After a brief period of training, he jumped straight into an ongoing 8-colour Decorator build. After 5 years and a period of demonstrating a keen eye for process management, Brad developed into a new role as our Project Manager where he managed all aspects of several projects, including multiple UVMBRC’s and a pair of 8C Deco projects. Once a position opened in Sales, Brad put himself forward. With his depth of product knowledge and experience in Unimaq, Brad is in a great position to support our customers.

How did you get into can making?

After leaving The Navy in 2018 on a medical discharge I was eager to use the skills I had developed in my next role. After a successful interview with Unimaq’s founder, Berty, I started my journey in the can industry.

I quickly realized the scale and complexity of the products that Unimaq manufactured were on another level to what I was accustomed to. However, I knew if I applied the skills learned through the military, I’d make myself a key member of the team.

I’ve had the opportunity to visit several plants in Europe, on service jobs, to see just what goes into can making and the pressure on the can makers to keep their machines, including the ones Unimaq provides, running non-stop. These experiences guided me while working on our products, knowing the time constraints and goals to minimize spoilage gave me a new perspective that led me to suggest new procedures and key milestones during our projects.

This new approach led to me being offered the opportunity to take the role of Project Manager at Unimaq. Taking a role off the tools was not something I ever envisaged for myself, but I had an abundance of ideas that I felt could add value to Unimaq and specifically improve things in our Product Assembly department.

I surprised myself further when I put myself forward to fill a vacant role in Sales! I had spent time covering the role from time to time, so the process was nothing new. My goal here is to develop a great relationship with our customers and show them that I have their best interest at heart and with the help of the wider Unimaq team, I can offer guidance whenever it’s needed.

Why Unimaq?

When I left The Navy, it was not plain sailing, excuse the pun, to find a role that would make use of my skills as a fitter. The Navy does not provide any civilian recognized qualifications until you are several ranks higher than what I was. Unimaq took a gamble with me, when nobody else would and continued to give me opportunity after opportunity to test myself and reach new levels professionally.

When you couple this with the family-like atmosphere of the team and ethos on the staff’s work-life balance, the more fitting question would be, why not Unimaq?

Career highlights

I like to think I’m still very early in my career and hope there are many more highlights to come, especially in my role as Sales Manager as I’ve not been in the role for a full year yet!

Managing my first project was certainly a highlight for me. Having experience in various departments had allowed me to truly see how a project flows through the company with a bird’s eye perspective. This helped me identify areas that could be improved and holes in our process. Having a direct influence on filling those holes and seeing a project delivered to its highest standard and on time for the customer was a major highlight.

Anything related to continuous improvement is always a highlight. After identifying an issue, whether it be with a specific product or an internal process, and then working on a solution, I’m always filled with satisfaction when I see the changes made come to fruition and positively impact our business and our products.

How I see the 2-piece industry

I came to realize quite early in my career at Unimaq that to succeed I needed a wider understanding of the 2-piece industry as a whole and not just Unimaq’s role within it.

In recent years, especially post-pandemic, for whatever reason there has been a quiet period and a focus on maintenance of existing equipment as opposed to investment in new units. However, this is quite clearly changing, and I can see an influx of demand for capital equipment on the horizon.

That being said, there is an element of the industry that would benefit from re-evaluation. There is understandably a reluctance, or nervousness with innovations in this industry. Of course, the plants find comfort in a risk-free approach and may choose to stick to the equipment they know. But these decisions may very well come back around in the near future. Innovative changes to the industry are inevitable, with the arrival of AI in quality control and the ever-increasing focus on energy consumption and net-zero goals. Making the decision to convert and invest in new technology now may prevent re-investing in a few years’ time.

Away from work life       

Having two toddlers at home makes my home life just as busy as life at Unimaq!  I’ve got a bit of an obsessive approach to hobbies and once I choose a new activity or sport to play, I go all in on it. I’m currently a bit of a gym rat and if I’m not at work or playing with my two boys, I’ll be in the gym. I’ve got a love for scuba diving and would spend the rest of my days diving in The Red Sea if I could, but as that’s not the cheapest hobby, I’ll take a few dives a year while on my holidays in Egypt.