Industrial and Marine Hydraulics (IMH), a hydraulic engineering firm with a strong heritage in investing in people, has promoted Nick Colman to Service Coordinator.
Nick Colman joined the company in 2022 as its first operations apprentice, he successfully completed a level 3 in business administration as part of his apprenticeship and was appointed Graduate Service Coordinator in 2024.
The role was created especially for Nick and his skillset to support the company in implementing business processes to grow the company’s service division and develop its relationships with customers.
Within his role, Nick reports directly to the service manager and is responsible for organising the company’s team of service engineers and in flow of service requests. Over the years he has been supported by the company to develop his administration skills and engineering understanding. He has undertaken basic hydraulic engineering training, delivered by company founder Paul Griffiths MBE, and working alongside colleagues he’s developed a good knowledge of components and understanding of customer requirements.
Ian Bannister, Engineering Manager at IMH commented: “It’s an absolute pleasure to promote Nick in recognition of his great ability to succeed in the role. He’s really excelled in the past 12-months, taking on more responsibility with quoting and organising teams for customer jobs, which has enabled me to shift my focus on developing the division.
“As a company, when we take on apprentices we do so with a view to future proof the business as well as provide an opportunity for career development. We therefore always try to ensure that there will be a full-time position for them on completion of their course, where we see skills are needed.
“With Nick, we recognised his enthusiasm to put in place good working practices and his skills in applying and ensuring adherence to processes and his enthusiasm. I look forward to supporting his further career progression and relying on his skills to ensure the growth of the service division.”
“Nick Colman, Service Coordinator at IMH added: “I’m so grateful for the opportunities that IMH has provided me with. The company is always willing to support in making a role your own and I’ve been encouraged to look at ways in which we work and how we can continue to improve our processes to better the company and our customers.
“Most recently, through the relationships I’ve been able to develop with customers, I’ve been able to attend client sites which is helpful in being able to scope jobs for quotes. And it’s also been beneficial to have that customer relationship to be able to see projects through from that first engagement to completion. It’s given me the confidence to progress and look at more ways in which I can free up Chris’ time.”
IMH launched its apprenticeship programme in 1995, initially looking to appoint one apprentice every two years. It has surpassed that goal with the company looking to appoint its 30th apprentice this year. And the company’s founder, Paul Griffiths, has recently won a lifetime achievement award in recognition of his life’s ambition to develop talent and the community of Teesside.