Two new appointments often signal more than a change in title; they mark a moment of renewed focus and intent. With fresh perspectives and a clear mandate for the future, Flexi Narrow Aisle’s recently appointed directors bring both continuity and momentum to their roles.

In this Q&A, Guy Whitehurst, Business Operations Manager at Flexi Narrow Aisle sits down with Martin Jones, UK Sales Director and Lee Burt, Aftersales Director, who have just stepped into their positions to understand their priorities, their view of the market, and how they are shaping the year ahead for their respective functions and the wider business.

Martin Jones – UK Sales Director

GW: Congratulations on the new role! What excites you most about this opportunity?

MJ: I have worked for this business for over 2 years and the thing that stood out immediately was the people and the product. The passion of the team, the drive and ambition of the business and the already worldwide recognised brand. The most exciting part of this new role is that I get to be a key part of the leadership team and a driving force for success.

GW: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for growth in the UK market, both in the near term and as you look further ahead?

MJ: The standout feature of our product is the space-saving results we achieve against other MHE types. Our end users are often looking to maximise storage efficiency whilst reducing product handing costs. As space continues to be at a premium, the Flexi comes into its own.

GW: What’s your approach to building long-term customer relationships and making sure the business stands out in a competitive UK market?

MJ: It’s about standing out and having that honest conversation. It’s also about being reliable and operating with integrity, which is one of my core values. This is simply, we do what we say we do, when we say we are going to do it. I will work to further strengthen relationships with our existing dealer network, increasing our sales engagement to support increased sales of the Flexi product.

GW: What is your leadership style, and how do you aim to support the UK sales team?

MJ: Mutual respect is the foundation of my leadership style. We work together to achieve our goals, supporting individuals to deliver for our customers. I’m always talking about doing the right things, doing them well and doing them consistently. It’s a simple but effective approach where communication is key.

GW: When you look back in 12 months’ time, what will success in this role look like to you?

MJ: 2026 for us is about growth. This is a combination of strengthening existing relationships and cultivating new opportunities while continue to deliver world class services and products.

Lee Burt – Aftersales Director

GW: Congratulations on your new appointment! What are your main priorities for the service and parts function over the next year?

LB: To work with our dealer network in the UK and Worldwide, with a view to improving their abilities to support their Flexi Customer base.  This involves increasing the number of dealers engineers that attend our training sessions, providing more remote technical response and providing more access to technical and parts information online.

GW: How do you see service and parts contributing to the overall customer experience and long-term customer loyalty?

LB: By building trust and reliability. Timely, quality repairs and the use of genuine parts will instil confidence in the brand and the product's longevity, making the customer feel valued and secure in their investment.

GW: Where do you see the greatest opportunities to grow and optimise the service and parts business, both now and over the longer term?

LB: One opportunity is to transition from reactive to proactive service by utilising telematics and AI agents to detect issues before they cause failure and automatically generating repair requests and parts requirements. Another opportunity is embracing technology and utilising capabilities to ensure our Dealer Network can access technical and parts information, 24/7, 365 days a year, in multiple languages, that will help them support their customer no matter what time zone or country they are in.

GW: What does “excellent” look like to you when it comes to service delivery and parts availability, and how do you ensure consistency across the UK?

LB: “Excellent” often translates to different expectation levels depending on the customer.  For me the important aspect is to deliver on what you have promised, “Do or Do not, there is no try.”  Also to think outside the box and explore every reasonable and sometimes some unreasonable options, to help your customer out.

GW: When you reflect on your first year in the role, what outcomes will tell you that the service and parts function is performing at its best?

LB: The main commercial objective of Narrow Aisle is to increase the number of trucks we manufacture and sell worldwide.  Service and Parts play a major part in that growth.  As the saying goes “Sales Sell the 1st Truck to a customer, Service Sell the rest.” If our market share is growing, then I will know that Service is playing their part.

Thanks for joining us for this Q&A and we hope you’ve enjoyed it. We’ll finish with a few closing thoughts from our Group Managing Director, Donald Houston:

“The business world and markets change very quickly, and Narrow Aisle needs to evolve to meet these changes.  Having Lee and Martin’s experience on the board will allow us to better navigate our future.

As we embark on this new chapter, I am confident that their leadership will bring great rewards to our company.”