Page 15 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Twelve

John Petrie -
W M Donald’s new yardsman
John Petrie has worked for W M Donald for about five years. Prior to successfully interviewing for the job of yardsman, John had driven one of the lorries in the W M Donald fleet.
‘The role of the yardsman is to be the ‘oil’ that ensures the interface between the yard, the stores and operations works effectively. The biggest challenge is to keep on top of the job as there are so many deliveries and despatches with lots of materials in the yard at any one time. In some cases, because of the national shortages, we have taken the precaution of stockpiling key materials. Concrete shortages have been a really big issue – pipes, kerbs etc – but this appears to be easing off.’
In addition to deliveries and despatches, John is also responsible for small offsite pre-cast concrete fabrications.
Linsi Crocker joins
W M Donald as
Transport Manager
Linsi Crocker has joined W M Donald to take up the position of Transport Manager. Linsi’s role covers a broad spectrum of responsibilities including ensuring the right materials, reach the right site, at the right time.
Prior to moving back ‘home’ to Aberdeen, Linsi was a Transport Section Leader at Aldi’s Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in Cardiff. The RDC supplied produce on a daily basis to around 75 stores. Linsi didn’t do this alone, she had a team of 75 to manage!
On leaving school, Linsi first joined the Armed Forces serving in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). Reaching the rank of Sergeant, Linsi was an Armourer responsible for repairing, maintaining and adapting all weapon systems, often in difficult and challenging conditions supporting fighting troops. During her thirteen years in REME, Linsi spent time in Canada, Iraq, Belize, USA, Afghanistan and Oman.
You can find out more about the role of Armourer at https://apply.army.mod.uk/roles/royal-electrical-and- mechanical-engineers/armourer
W M Donald’s growth in recent years means that the fleet needs to be upgraded, which is not as simple as it sounds:
‘The supply chain impacts of Covid mean there is a finite amount of new vehicles available. Ideally we would like to both replace and grow our fleet of Peugeot Partners. Due to intensive use, we would typically look to change out every three or four years but this is simply not feasible at the moment.’
Since joining W M Donald, Linsi has completed the Transport Manager Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) run by the Freight Transport Association.
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