The Managing Director of intelligent transport systems specialist Westcotec has paid tribute to how it improves the lives of its employees and saves the lives of road users, as the company celebrates its 25th birthday.
At a special lunch at Norwich City’s Carrow Road football ground in Westcotec’s home county of Norfolk, Chris Spinks also hailed the vision, hard work and generosity of the company’s founder Phil Hayton.
Mr Hayton told the audience of around a hundred specially invited guests that the business making illuminated traffic signs began with a DIY prototype built in a garage using a £40 pub sign and a cardboard box. “I cost me £40, we put it in a cardboard box and put it on the roadside, and it slowed people down,” he said. “Because it made people aware that there’s something on the side of the road that they’re not used to.”
He went on to explain that the company’s origin was never corporate, but about behavioural science, improvisation, and road safety need.
Phil Hayton underlined his industry reputation as a classic British entrepreneur with an attitude that came over as relentless, hands-on, and also slightly rebellious. He built the business while still working for Norfolk County Council, and started manufacturing out of a salt barn and shipping container. He also said how important it was to hire people on instinct and not what it said on their CVs. “I asked one person, ‘do you know anything about electronics?’, then You can come and work for me.’”
Mr Hayton explained how Westcotec challenged what he saw as expensive, ineffective legacy systems and undercut traditional sign manufacturers while focussing on real-world impact rather than engineering perfection and talked of a workplace culture that included Nerf gun fights, pets in the office and supporting staff financially when they needed it, leading to an intense loyalty in return.
Chris Spinks then acknowledged how, when Mr Hayton chose to retire, he focussed on making Westcotec employee owned, rather than selling out, focussing on job security, locality, and legacy.
Mr Hayton explained: “I wanted to make sure that all my staff… were as secure as they can be… the company wouldn’t be sold… wouldn’t move out of Norfolk,” while Chris Spinks said that when he took over as Managing Director after a life in the Police Force, “The hardest thing… was trying to keep that culture.”
He underlined that after his years as a road traffic officer, his primary concern is saving lives on the road, and that this passion has also been good for business as the company has enjoyed record revenues, is expanding its factory space and looking into a larger export market. “We always said yes, then worked out how to do it, and we can get an idea… to a proof of concept within a few weeks, and our agility is still a competitive edge 25 years on.”
Mr Spinks ended saying: “The main thing is that that we carry on what Phil started, that the company is sustainable in terms of always going to be there. You know, I’ve now been there 10 years, so I’ve seen people buy their first house, have their start families, and build their future on Wescotec. So our responsibility is to make sure that it’s going to be there, growing, maintaining its profitability, to be able to be sustainable. And my passion is about saving roads, saving lives on the road, so to be able to be involved in a company that is making a difference in that area is something that I want to make sure is going to be there after I’ve gone and I’m quite optimistic that that will be the case.”
(Picture – shows Chris Spinks, right with Phil Hayton, centre and event host, former BBC presenter Mike Liggins, courtesy Highways News)
