Lee Griffin – Yard Operative at Wernick Hire

Lee’s interview

My name is Lee Griffin and I am the Yard Foreman at Wernick Hire in Ampthill.

I see my role as first and foremost about safety. I am very keen to be as involved as possible in everything that goes on here. I believe that general upkeep is very important to ensure that people are working safely and cleanly. Secondly, I want to make sure that all our cabins go out in fantastic order. We have a great reputation with the way we provide our services, the quality of our cabins and how quick we are when responding to calls and I want to uphold that.

I started off in Wernick as a Yard Operative and have now worked my way up to Yard Foreman. So, I would say that it is a fantastic place for progression. As of October, I will have worked at Wernick for 9 years and the team here in Ampthill have been with me for 5 years. I am in a bit of a strange position as my wife is the Assistant Manager here but luckily, we have a great working relationship.

I really enjoy being in charge and looking after the Ampthill depot. I am quite proud of the new facilities that we have here and that puts a smile on my face when I come into work. It also helps that I have a great Manager and Regional Manager, they are both fantastic as far as I am concerned. Another thing I really enjoy about my role here is bringing young people in, training them, making sure they are good and confident in themselves and what they are doing. You can see their confidence grow as they learn, and I get a lot of enjoyment from that. It is nice to see them develop.

Speaking for my depot, everything I have asked for I have got for my staff including training courses – as long as they are willing of course. I would say that Wernick is very good in that way.

I would recommend a job here at Wernick. There is no one holding you back if you want to progress and the people here are great from senior management down. Senior management and even our Managing Director often come down and say hello, shake hands with the lads and make sure they are okay and that there are no problems.

Outside of work:

I like to follow the Rugby League and I love watching the Six Nations when that is on. I also support Hull FC. I like all sport really. I also love fast cars and my dream is to own a Ferrari. My wife recently treated me to an experience day where I was able to drive a Lamborghini, Ferrari and an Aston Martin on a racetrack, it was a fantastic day.