Meet Our New Fleet Director – Kate Close
Today we celebrate a story of success 13 years in the making. Our very own Kate Lambell née Close has officially been promoted from the role of General Manager, to that of Fleet Director, a fancier title that rightly recognises a role which, in truth, she’s been occupying for years already.
Anyone who’s been anywhere near Westwood cannot fail to be familiar with Kate. She’s the strategic and organisational powerhouse responsible for both overseeing, and taking a direct hand in the day to day running of the whole company.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Westwood’s metaphorical wheels might well fall off without Kate’s matchless capability, hard work and dauntless dedication. It’s been said that, like a stick of rock, if you cut Kate in half, Westwood would be written all the way through her!
So how did Kate progress to becoming the fleet expert she is today? Simply, a combination of hard work, determination and, it has to be said, a level of stubbornness that’s perhaps rivalled only by a cat that knows it’s bath time! But there’s far more to this story.
Kate’s Story
Kate’s Westwood story began back in 2008 where Kate was interviewed in a car park, of all places, for a book-keeping role. It only took a week in the job for it to be apparent that Kate was destined for far greater things. She not only got stuck right into the job she was recruited to do, but also everything else besides. She’d answer telephone calls, warmly and confidently greet customers as they walked through the door and took pretty much everything thrown at her in her stride. In particular, Kate’s immense technical knowledge of cars, vans, engines, weights and all things automotive came as quite a surprise to customers.
Westwood’s Managing Director, Chris Melling pretty quickly spotted her potential and within a week told her plainly “You’re in the wrong job!”
From there on, Kate’s role was expanded to make best use of her ‘particular set of skills’ which led to her being involved in pretty much every aspect of the business.
Kate was promoted to General Manager in 2011, by that time she was dealing with sales, rental, contract hire, rental, key accounts and just about everything else on a day to day basis. In Kates 13 years helping develop one of the largest independant hire companies in the UK. Kate has overseen and had the pleasure of assisting new start businesses, corporate companies, movie stars, football celebrities and more. Customers frequently ask for her by name and she’s earned the trust of all who deal with her.
Fast forward to today, Kate takes personal charge of a fleet approaching 3,000 vehicles, she’s famous for being able, if you asked her about any particular vehicle registration number, for being able to tell you, from memory, not only what the vehicle is, but also, who’s in it and other relevant information, all without the aid of our database or other computer systems.
A Leader In Everything She Does
It’s common in the business world for people to conflate ‘Management’ and ‘Leadership’. In truth, one is a mere job description, the other is a personal quality. While it’s possible to be one without being the other, businesses thrive when their Managers are also Leaders. Kate is a perfect exemplar of this.
Solving problems, handling EVERYTHING and keeping the plates spinning is par for the course for Kate. Alongside her General Manager duties, she also managed, last year, to sell around 350 vehicles. This year isn’t over, but as a business, we’re breaking records year on year and month on month, so Kate will probably end up having once again broken her own record!
Kate not only knows the way, she shows the way. She wouldn’t ask anyone to do something she wouldn’t do herself and if there’s ever any slack, she’s the first to immediately pick it up. We’ve all worked for ‘managers’ who’re happy to ‘be the boss’ but who evaporate when things get tough or prioritise finding a culprit over fixing a problem. Kate is the other sort.
If there’s ever a challenge to be faced, Kate is the one at the front leading the charge. She also inspires trust and confidence in the rest of us who’re privileged to work alongside her. Kate has literally everyone’s back. If someone is being treated unfairly, or even abusively (sadly it happens from time to time), Kate is the one who’ll always intercede in defence of a colleague. If ever anyone calls in sick over the weekend, Kate will always take it upon herself to drop any plans she might have had and fill in. Amongst the first to arrive in the morning and usually among the last to leave, Kate’s work ethic and dedication is a shining example to all.
Kate’s Success Is Westwood’s Success
Over the years, Kate has not only seen the colossal growth of Westwood Motor Group from where we started out, from a converted petrol station in Ince, to a multi-branch company, serving the whole of the UK, but she’s been undeniably instrumental in making Westwood the vehicle solutions juggernaut we are today.
We know that calling a company “Fastest growing”, “Leading business” etcetera etcetera, might be considered mere marketing hyperbole, but in our case, we can state this as fact. Last year we were ranked the 26th fastest growing business in the Northwest, on the exclusive ‘Fastest 50‘ list, a list of the Northwest’s 50 fastest growing businesses produced by Solicitor firm Ward Hadaway in association with the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. Figures were based on three years worth of published accounts based on overall turnover. Westwood was only vehicle rental company to make that prestigious list, putting us shoulder to shoulder with the other most successful businesses around. Kate has been instrumental in making Westwood the shining star of the vehicle rental industry we are today and in our continued, sustained growth.
We’re all absolutely delighted to see our friend and colleague Kate, be recognised, rewarded and elavated with a formal Directorship and there could be no-one more deserving. Please join us in congratulating our very own Fleet Director Kate.
