5 minute read
Interview
EVERY DAY IS UNIQUE AT AICO
Carly Wills speaks to Neal Hooper, Managing Director of Aico, about life at the company and its plans for the future.
CW: Tell us about yourself and how you got into the sector.
NH: I was a graduate trainee at F. W. Woolworth and used to read The Grocer magazine. Some of the salespeople I met at head office recommended the career change. They must have thought I needed it! I applied for a job that was advertised. It was for Robin Electronics, the test equipment company. That led me into this sector, where I have been for all but 10 years since.
CW: For those who may not know, can you give us an overview of the work that Aico does?
NH: We are the European market leader in domestic fire and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms, as well as providing sensors that combine with the alarms to provide real-time notifications and data through our connected home solutions. We are the only major European manufacturer through our factory in Shannon, Republic of Ireland, employing over 1,000 people.
CW: Tell us about your current role – what are you responsible for and what does the normal working day consist of?
NH: As managing director, I oversee all of our activities in the UK of Aico and HomeLINK, our other group company based in Bristol. A normal working day can consist of internal meetings with other directors/managers, to supply chain meetings, to being involved with our CSR initiatives or attending any of the 160+ events we are involved with this year. Every day is unique, and I love it.
CW: What are the best things about your role? What are the most challenging?
NH: People. In both aspects. Luckily, I am surrounded by over-achieving colleagues who care about what they do, care about each other, and live to our values. They inspire me to be at my best and I am proud to be a stakeholder of Aico and HomeLINK alongside them.
People can also be a challenge too and not everybody wishes to aspire to be the best they can be.
CW: How has COVID-19 affected the industry? Do you think things will be finally able to get back to ‘normal’ soon?
NH: COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the world. So many loved ones lost to this vile disease. The UK is similar, as is our whole industry. From a business perspective, people came first. The protection of their health was paramount. We have all had to ‘make it up’ as we went, following government guidelines, whilst continuing to supply our life safety products that are in huge demand. We were lucky to be able to set two successive record years in 2020 and 2021, so normality continued from that perspective at least.
CW: Aside from COVID-19, what have been the biggest changes across the industry in recent times? What will be the biggest changes in the future?
NH: Digitalisation and data are synonymous with many conversations. Fortunately, we are leading the way with our connected home solutions through our gateway supplying data through our cloud portal to apps on mobile devices and computers. Change is the only constant and it is exciting to see that connectivity is helping life safety and general health too. This will also be the biggest change in the future – the information we can view in most aspects of our daily lives will continue to boom. It is already helping people change their daily lives by working from home.
CW: What’s next for you and for Aico?
NH: Aico has a massively dominant market share of 90%. We will continue to grow this amongst our life safety devices, whilst making great strides in the connected home arena with our industry leading offer. In turn, this will create more products and sensors for our supply chain.
CW: What do you think are the most exciting products or technologies coming to the market?
NH: Being totally immersed in what we are up to, I cannot see anything more exciting than the connectivity of the technology to improve people’s lives and health, let alone save their lives in the face of a serious incident.
CW: What are your interests away from work?
NH: It is very difficult to completely be away from my role, it is very time-consuming. Family is important as we have three daughters and two grandsons, with another grandchild on the way. It is wonderful spending time with them. I am always reading and have my own library with nearly 900 books, which gives me tremendous enjoyment and relaxation. I also play golf and follow Wolves – neither of which is relaxing and very often not enjoyable! Travel is vitally important to broaden the mind and to experience this wonderful planet that we inhabit, it must be protected.
Aico, aico.co.uk
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