“I joined Merridale 6 months ago and from pretty much day one, my bubbly personality has been my lead factor when speaking to customers and colleagues. I might have started off quiet but now they just can’t shut me up. My role is to ensure that all customer enquiries to our service and support team are tended to and resolved as efficiently as possible which means there is never a dull day here at Merridale. There’s always something new to dig your teeth into, which is good for me as I never back down from a challenge.”

“Merridale is a very warm and welcoming place, everyone greets you with a smile and from day one of being here I knew it was somewhere I could see me working way into the future. When I applied for the role, I’d only ever had one other full-time job as a Law Receptionist, so I wasn’t sure I’d even get an interview. I was ecstatic to be called in so I could highlight my skills, confidence and what I could bring to the role. Once the interview was over, I chose to take a risk and I asked them ‘How do you feel the interview has gone?’. Little did I know, a week later I would be offered the position of Service & Support Assistant.”

“I settled in immediately and every day I learn something new with the help of Carole, Emma and Kara helping me grow more and more confident in my role. I feel I’ve really fitted in at Merridale because I’m always keen to learn and go above and beyond to maintain the highest standards. Merridale really feels like a family, and we all work hard together to make sure that the ship keeps sailing for us and our customers.”

After more than 20 years in the industry, 16 of which with Merridale as contracts manager, Kathy Withers has decided to retire and enjoy some well-earned downtime.

Following a varied career that involved being a pub landlady and managing freemason premises, alongside raising two daughters, Kathy joined P M Services in 1991 as part of the accounts team. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, she also worked at D Berry & Co, facilitating their computerisation of stock control, accounting and business management systems, and C H Jones (Keyfuels) within their accounts department.

In 2001 she joined Gilbarco (Marconi) as an administrative assistant to their commercial department which was initially based at Walsall and later moved to Witton, Birmingham. Here Kathy’s role involved meeting with customers to discuss their fuelling equipment, contractual maintenance and negotiating such arrangements, as well as the additional task of managing over £400k of maintenance agreements for commercial customers. She also worked in front-line support for the many trade shows that the commercial department took part in. Reporting to Stephen Hannan, Commercial Sales Manager, Kathy had secured significant growth within the commercial marketplace.

With the Witton office closing, Kathy left Gibarco alongside Stephen to join MIS Fuel Monitoring Ltd, now Merridale Ltd, to continue in a similar role. One of Kathy's significant achievements during this period was the increase in revenue for contractual (Extended Warranty) business by some 700% between 2006 and 2021. Additional revenue was also generated by the promotion of routine inspection and calibration visits. During her time with Merridale, Kathy also spent a period of time assisting Frank Hare as treasurer of the PEIMF. However, one of Kathy’s favourite roles was to support Merridale at tradeshows such as The CV Show, both the Birmingham and Paignton Waste and Bus shows, and the Emergency Service shows.

Stephen Hannan said “Since 2001, Kathy and I have worked very closely as a mutually supportive team focussed on developing long-term business relationships, this being achieved by ensuring that we acted continuously in a professional manner. The practice ensured that the sales team not only recommended the best quality and most suitable products to our customers but ensured that customers understood and received the best possible attention.”

“Kathy has contributed throughout by always ensuring that our proposals to potential and existing customers are fully understandable and accurate. Her admirably high standards continued into the Merridale order processing system where Kathy ensured that the requirements of the customer were identified correctly to the various teams at Merridale.”

“It is sad that this working partnership has now come to an end.

Everyone at Merridale wishes Kathy all the very best in her retirement and thanks her for her service to the industry. She was a credit to the team and will be missed by colleagues and customers.”

The occasion was marked by a gathering of colleagues at which company director, Paul Ledbury, noted Kelvin’s contribution to the development of Merridale fuel management systems, saying:

“Kelvin has been involved with Merridale pretty much since it was set up as MIS Fuel Monitoring in 1994. Initially this connection was through his father Cal, who had worked with the precursor business that led the foundation of MIS and Merridale.

“Kelvin eventually joined the newly formed company as a full-time service engineer in 1999. As Merridale systems evolved, Kelvin has played an important part in building confidence with our customers. Qualities which have enabled Merridale to become one of the market leaders in commercial depot fuel dispensing systems.

Paul adds. “Although his job was mostly in the field, on the occasions when he was in the workshops Kelvin became the ‘go-to’ man for any problems concerning trouble shooting circuit boards and equipment performance.

“On behalf of Merridale, I would like to thank you for your loyalty, and dedication and most important for your contribution as a most valued member of our staff.”