Your father Norman founded the company in 1946, were you always going to join the business or did you have other career plans?
I started working with my father at the age of 16. My first week, he put me in the tyre shed stripping wheels off tyres. I didn’t like that much. I also spent six months working with my brother-in-law who owned a bodyshop. I soon realised I enjoyed taking cars apart, but not so much putting them back together. I returned to Silverlake, taking my HGV licence and driving a recovery truck. By 19, I took over running the business due to my father’s ill health and I continue to love every minute. Automotive recycling is in my DNA.

How has the business adapted to meet the demand for reclaimed/green parts and how much do you expect this will increase as environmental considerations grow?
We’ve been supplying reclaimed parts for 78 years. The market has become more professional, giving motorists, bodyshops and insurers greater confidence in the product. We’re certified to the VRA UK Standard for Reclaimed Parts: our parts are quality graded, warranty assured and have full provenance history. We’ve invested in five more dismantling ramps and increased our collision repair parts storage to accommodate 7,000 body panels. Our fleet stands at 30 transporters, 12 parts delivery vans and two HGV haulage trucks, used to reduce CO2 emissions with bulk deliveries of reclaimed parts to our Midlands hub. In the last year, we’ve seen a 200% increase in demand for our reclaimed parts. I think that’s driven by trust in our product, financial considerations – savings of up to 70% on RRP of new OEM parts; environmental considerations – the reduction in carbon emissions achieved by re-using a part; and improved availability and accessibility – we’ve invested in proprietary software and data analytics which combined with our partnership approach to bodyshop customers, ensures we are sourcing the right end-of-life vehicles and dismantling the parts they need. The fact we deliver nationwide within 48 hours of receiving an order also helps!

Describe an opportunity and a challenge facing your business currently?
We’re working with our network to develop a seamless service, making reclaimed parts availability and costs more visible to bodyshops at estimating stage. This is an opportunity to help to further increase usage of reclaimed parts and support bodyshops with reduced key-to-key times, improved productivity and increased carbon reduction savings which can be linked to environmental goals and PAS 2060.
Parts number accuracy, order fulfilment rates and back-order delays are challenges in our market. We use data and analytics to improve parts availability and accuracy and have adopted a  partnership approach with bodyshop customers to understand their business processes and needs, including proactively notifying them when back-order parts come into stock.

Are there any new developments we can expect from Silverlake?
We are scaling for further growth and moving through planning to treble the size of our main 10-acre site in Southampton. This will see us increase the vehicles we process from 30,000 to 50,000 per annum meaning we can provide even greater reclaimed parts availability to bodyshops.

Best advice you’ve received?

‘Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail’. Have a plan, learn from mistakes and collectively celebrate every ‘win’ with your people.

What drives you?

Legacy. Silverlake is my life’s work and before me, my father’s. I’m hugely competitive and want to be the best. I have a clear vision of what that means and I’m driven to deliver it, working with my strategic exec team and operational senior management team. Succession planning is key to sustainability.

If you’re not at work, where will we find you?

Racing in the Silverlake C1 Series or at Eastleigh Football Club, cheering the team in the Silverlake Stadium. I love sport and being around people caught up in the adrenalin of the competition.
Everyone who has a car is our customer so these are unlimited opportunities to network. Family and time with my three grandchildren are also precious.

How would your colleagues/associates describe you in three words?

I put this out to a poll! Passionate. Focused. Loyal.

Tell us a secret about yourself?

I love a bit of ‘Dad Dancing’ and can be found on the dance floor at industry events enthusiastically demonstrating the ‘Silverlake Shuffle!’

To read the article in the ABP Magazine click here!