Skills honed over a career as colonel in the Royal Marines are being applied to Stewart Milne Timber Systems' head of planning role after the manufacturer’s recruitment of Nick Lindley.
Mr Lindley, a former colonel in the Royal Marines with a degree in quantity surveying, will be based at its Witney plant in Oxfordshire.
In his new role, Mr Lindley will take a business planning lead to complete the implementation of a new change programme and join up sales, commercial, contracts and manufacturing operations within the company. He will report to UK operations director Noel Staunton.
Having completed his degree in quantity surveying at Leeds Polytechnic, Mr Lindley joined the Royal Marines as a means of having an initial career that enabled him to pursue his love of climbing. Although he intended only to serve four years it came to develop into a 29-year career.
He returned to the construction sector after meeting his new employer during a Career Transition Partnership (CTP) recruitment fair, organised by the Ministry of Defence’s official provider of services to assist personnel in moving to civilian careers.
Mr Lindley’s military career saw him attain a series of senior executive level posts, latterly as director of the Advanced Command and Staff College at Shrivenham, and as commanding officer of 45 Commando Group in Arbroath for two years.
Mr Lindley said: “After diverting from my earlier career path in construction as a quantity surveyor, it is great to be back in the industry with one of the recognised pioneers in the field of timber system construction in the UK. What attracted me to the role and back into the industry is that it has a tangible product and a great range of people involved in producing it, from the teams on site through to the boardroom.
“It goes to show that one should remain open to all possibilities in your career, as following that chance meeting I am now embarking on a new chapter of professional challenges.”
Karen Catto, HR director at Stewart Milne Group, said: “Recruiting someone of Nick’s experience and background is a major coup for us and demonstrates the dynamic working environment that we provide and the attractiveness of our industry to people from other career paths.
“Nick’s insight to the Armed Forces also reaffirms our belief that former military personnel with relevant skill sets can help us to meet many of the skills requirements within our industry.”
