4 minute read
5 Minutes with
5 MINUTES
WITH...
Sean Keyes, Director Sutcliffe civil & structural engineers
What does a typical working day look like?
My daily routine has been evolving throughout the last 35 years and during my last four and half years as Sutcliffe’s Managing Director.
Every morning I wake up bright and breezy and have a coffee whilst checking my emails and schedule for the day and respond to anything urgent that may have been sent overnight. How fondly I remember the days when you started work when you arrived at your desk.
I find that the drive to the office or site is a perfect opportunity to catch up with what’s happening with projects, staff and the world of business.
During mid-morning, with almost 50 members of staff in our offices there is always something going on and I always make sure I find time for the most valuable asset of Sutcliffe, ‘the team’.
After a morning of emails and other correspondences, the business development team then advises me of any new projects, opportunities and that I am brought up to speed on recently submitted tenders. There is always some good news.
During the lockdown, with restrictions on how people meet I have endeavoured to walk every lunchtime and when permitted, take this opportunity to meet the senior team to informally discuss business strategy.
I find in the afternoons I need to be flexible with my time management to be able to deal with any essential actions that a vibrant business requires.
I believe success rarely comes easily. It requires an early start and a late finish. My working day does not finish when I leave the office as more often than not it continues throughout the evening, but I always make sure I find quality time to sit down for a family meal.
What is on the top of your to-do list?
The success of a good business is collaboration and utilising our contacts across the Liverpool City Region and beyond. We’re creating a new strategy that we are putting together as a company which will take us from strength to strength, after a record year of growth in 2019/20.
What advice would you give your teenage self?
Listen to your elders and soak up their knowledge like a sponge! Learn from your mistakes, never be afraid to ask questions and gain experience in a working environment, because the skills you learn as a teenager will last with you forever.
Where would we find you on your day off?
Currently working! But typically I would be enjoying a well deserved lie in, followed by a bacon sandwich, a shopping trip to town and a nice meal and a coffee, before a night in front of the TV.
What is the best advice you have been given in your career?
My mum always said, “find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Financial success really isn’t the be all and end all of life either, if you are committed to your career you will excel and the riches will follow.
Who is your role model (business or personal) in business?
I’ve got two. Firstly, the founder of Sutcliffe, John Sutcliffe, who was my ‘work dad’. He taught me so much and his knowledge and guidance has led me to the position that I find myself in today.
My own father also instilled a great work ethic into me and after working well into his 70s himself, I want to do everything I can to make him proud and replicate his own personal successes.
If you weren’t doing your current job what would be your ideal role?
Being an engineer really is the best job in the world and the job I’m in now is the one I dreamt of when I was a child. Alternatively though I’d love to be Prime Minister (for a week!) , I think the Government needs a push in the right direction and I’d love to stand up and give them the guidance they need to take businesses to the next level.
Why choose Liverpool City Region?
The Liverpool City Region has everything from two great football clubs, to beaches, countryside, a thriving business district and flagship shopping. The standard of living here is fantastic too and I really never understand why people decide to up sticks and move elsewhere, because nine times out of ten, they always end up returning!
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