Peter Hindle MBE is living proof that you should listen to your schoolteachers.
His affinity with timber was spotted by his woodwork teacher who encouraged the teenager to take a Saturday job and then full-time employment at Chadwicks, the local timber merchant. Neither of them could know at that point that the Lancashire lad would later occupy one of the top jobs in the timber industry – senior vice-president sustainable habitat and general delegate of Saint-Gobain UK, Ireland and South Africa.
“I left school at 16 with very few qualifications and started work for the merchant who had supplied the timber for our woodworking class,” said Peter. “It was the lowest level you could come in at and I did all the basics from stacking timber to counting screws.”
Four years on, while working at Chadwicks, he completed IWSc training at Manchester School of Building and became an associate member.
Even at this early stage, work was “just a job” rather than a career, the priority being to earn some money to pay his mother for his keep, while keeping his foot on the pedal of his over-riding interest, which was cycling.
Cycling was more than a hobby and, in the mid-70s, Peter had a spell riding professionally for the UK. By his early 20s, Peter was at the top of his game, racing internationally and training hard for the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
“I was a single lad, living at home, no mortgage, no ties and no real career ambition at that time and I thought ‘you’re only going to get one shot at this’. Then, just before 1976, I had a big back operation and that curtailed top level sport for me.”
Cycling’s loss was Jewson’s gain, because with professional sport out of the frame, Peter switched his attention back to building a career. In 1977 he joined timber merchant Tom Pegg Ltd, which later became Jewson’s Fleetwood branch.
Almost four decades of service with Jewson and its parent company, Saint- Gobain followed, with Peter’s competitive sportsman’s mentality helping him steer him on his upward trajectory from yard operative to senior vice-president until his retirement in February this year.
“The culture of teamwork, dedication and application and all the things that go with sport, including instilling respect for your competitors, were a great benefit to my business life. The ability to take on challenges, to be resilient and self-disciplined, is very important in business today.”
His most recent role with Saint-Gobain was two jobs in one. As senior vice-president for sustainable habitat, Peter was responsible for developing and delivering the sustainable habitat strategy of the group globally.
“We tried to influence the market around sustainable construction and to influence governments around the world to legislate for good construction,” he said. “And inside of that, we developed our Multi-Comfort programme, which looks at buildings from the inhabitants’ perspective, rather than just building for building’s sake.”
“We had a wide agenda which has involved a lot of research, product development and looking at the circular economy and I’ve really enjoyed it.
“Sustainability and resource efficiency and returning and recycling products – the full closed loop – is going to be a big factor in the future,” Peter added.
The other part of Peter’s role, that of general delegate for the UK, Ireland and South Africa, he describes as being the chief executive of Saint-Gobain’s manufacturing and distribution operations in those countries. It accounted for around 10% of the group’s turnover and around 20,000 employees.
One thing the two roles had in common was planes, trains and automobiles.
“Saint-Gobain has a presence in 65 countries and in eight of those, including the UK, the US, Germany, France and Spain, the group’s sustainable habitat agenda is very keen, so there has been a huge amount of travelling – lots of airports, lots of sleeping on planes and train and car journeys.
“It’s what you have to do. You can write a nice strategy but you have to go out and see how it is working on the ground. Going out and meeting people was the part of the job I really enjoyed.”
The business landscape has changed considerably during Peter’s time at Jewson and Saint-Gobain. At root and branch level he’s witnessed the transformation of timber specialists into generalists, including the introduction of heavyside materials into the mix. He’s also seen technology become an integral part of working life but while the tools with which they conduct business may have changed, he believes the people within the sector are still cut from the same cloth. “For me the motivation, management and leadership of people is the same as it was 40 years ago. The great businesses still have great leaders.”
He added, however, that the timber industry is “still not as advanced as it should be.”
“The timber trade is still hugely fragmented. I think it’s at a real crossroads in terms of deciding where its influence should be. Should it influence the market more or should it influence the government more? And for me, I would always go to the market first, rather than wait for legislation.
“The marketability of timber is still a massive opportunity but the industry is great at talking to itself and not to the market. It punches under its weight by a long way. It’s a £20bn industry with 150,000 employees, potentially all with great careers, but not everyone sees it that way.”
One solution, he said, is to “grab hold” of training initiatives in order to improve skillsets and education. This has been at the forefront of his role as chairman of the Builders Merchant Federation (BMF), a position he has held since April 2014.
During his time with the BMF he has been a key advocate of the organisation’s youth recruitment drive, spreading the message to schools and colleges and the launch of its diploma and degree courses.
These academic initiatives include a Postgraduate Diploma in Merchant Leadership and Strategy, run and awarded by Birmingham City University, completion of which can lead to study for an industry specific Masters degree. And, as Peter was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university in 2012 in recognition of his business achievements and charitable work, he is now able to attend graduation ceremonies and see those qualifications conferred.
“We’re now getting postgraduates with merchanting qualifications, which is great for the industry because it makes it more fashionable.”
He strongly believes, however, that catching them young is key and that talent spotters are needed at schools. “Had it not been for my woodworking teacher I would never have gone into the timber industry,” he said. “You need to spot children’s interests at a very early stage and then develop them.
“The whole industry needs to do more to get these youngsters into the business. Timber merchants should invite classes in to show them what we do and we should hold open days for parents to show them the career opportunities for their sons and daughters.”
He’s not remotely smug about his own successes, but does concede that he’s a good example of what can be achieved and that careers in the timber industry extend beyond commodity trading or depot management and into marketing, IT, finance and so on.
“I can guarantee there are loads of 16-year-olds out there who, given the opportunity and the awareness will have great careers. And there are some good training schemes out there and employers that will look after them.”
Peter has also been sharing his expertise and enthusiasm for merchanting with the Confederation of Timber Industries, since being appointed chairman last year.
“Dirk Vennix and the team are writing papers on sustainability, apprenticeships and the supply chain and once that is done we’ll present them to government and the stakeholders and will start putting programmes in motion around them.”
He said he’s pleased to be part of the process of promoting the timber sector and speaking with one voice.
“I’m at that time of my life when I want to put something back. The industry has been great for me, so if I can help in some way with some of these programmes and do a bit of ambassadorial work to try to encourage it to continue, then I’m happy to do so.”
Looking back, Peter has no hesitation in singling out the MBE he was awarded for services to the building industry and charities in 2009 as the pinnacle of his career.
“It was a big shock,” he said. “Nothing will surpass that.
“I received the award from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace and it was a great day out – but really nerve racking. One of my heroes, Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin was in the queue behind me and he was as nervous as I was.”
Peter will continue the charity work he was so involved with during his time at Jewson and Saint-Gobain. This included the adoption of three junior schools in South Africa where the company has funded the building of ablution blocks and canteens.
“I’m keen to continue raising funds for things like that, whether it’s by putting on celebrity dinners with some of the former Manchester United players, or by riding my bike across the Alps.”
The latter prospect is probably less daunting for a man who is back to cycling 200 miles a week than for most people. He also intends to get back to playing golf again and plans on having some refresher lessons. What he isn’t planning, however, is any trips abroad any time soon.
“When I retired people asked me if I’ve got a big holiday planned but I’ve agreed with my wife, Jan, that we’re not going anywhere until October because I’m fed up of airports.
“Even as managing director of Jewson in the UK I travelled a huge amount of the time,” he added. “Since 1993 I’ve been away four nights a week, so now I want to stay at home, spend more time with my grandchildren and try to get more of a normal life back again.”
But after such a long career in merchanting – “cut me in half and you’ll see the word Jewson running through me” – Peter isn’t hanging up his hat completely. “I will do other things. I care about the work at the BMF and the CTI and I like mentoring so I’ve set up my own consultancy [Peter Hindle MBE Consulting].”
Whatever the future holds, Peter’s strong work ethic is likely to remain undiminished. “Cycling taught me dedication,” he said. “If you want to achieve something you have to put the hard work in and that’s what I did, whatever the job was.
“I’ve taken every opportunity I was given and surprised myself with what could be achieved with each job. I never put a road block in the way and just said ‘keep going lad until they’ve had enough of you’.”
