Back on Dry Land

Uncategorised,General

After 26 years in the Royal Navy, Scott Hardisty jumped ship to follow in the footsteps of his brother-in-law and pursue a career as Licensee with Pirtek UK.

As a 19-year old in Blackpool, Scott Hardisty was looking to satisfy his desire for engineering experience and qualifications with a career in the Merchant Navy.   Unfortunately, for reasons beyond his control, the Merchant Navy proved unable to facilitate the overseas travel he craved.  With a quick change of direction, he joined the Royal Navy instead, attending HMS Raleigh in 1987 to begin a career that would last for more than a quarter of a century.

It was a decision that would pay dividends.   After completing his four year apprenticeship at the since-retired HMS Daedalus, Hardisty moved to Royal Navy Air Station Portland in 1991 where he would hone his skills maintaining the Westland Lynx which until recently was the mainstay of the Royal Navy small ships fleet.

Deployed all around the globe on humanitarian and peace keeping missions Hardisty again chose a new direction joining 3 commando brigade to maintain the Lynx Mk7/9 operated by 847 Squadron. This was a unique and challenging role maintaining an Army aircraft flown by Royal Marines but maintained by Royal Navy engineers. This would see him see action in both Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as other deployments across the globe. On completion of his time on 847 Hardisty was promoted to Warrant Officer, the highest rank a non-commissioned officer can attain and also awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

“I had a job until I was 55 if I wanted it.   But at the age of 46 I had grown tired of the travel and separation and wanted to be closer to my wife Tracey and our two sons so I took the decision to leave.”

A Family Affair

Having worked the required 12-month leave period, Hardisty turned his attention to finding a post-Navy career.   “My brother-in-law – Jason Woods – is the owner of the Pirtek Centres at Gloucester, Kidderminster, and Worcester so I had a pretty good idea of what the company did,” he recalls.   “He seemed to enjoy a decent lifestyle and I had always wanted to run my own business.   So I decided to buy a Pirtek Centre of my own.”

He narrowly missed out on his original target – Pirtek Westbury – and then had to wait until another opportunity came up.   “When Pirtek Exeter came up for sale, I jumped at the chance.”

What Hardisty inherited was a Centre running three mobile sales and service vans and which had largely neglected the North Devon portion of his franchise area.   So the decision was taken to put a fourth van on concentrating in the North Devon area. “There is an incumbent hydraulic hose company in North Devon and that area had always been seen as a waste of time,” he recalls.   “But thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Mobile Sales and Service Technician serving that area – Leon Sussex – we have gradually won over local customers.   Today, North Devon is the second most-successful part of our territory.” “It can take two and a half hours, driving across the moors, to get from one end of our territory to the other,” he explains.   “From the outset, I believed that Pirtek Exeter needed five vans on the road to allow us to deliver on the Pirtek service promise of Anytime.  Anywhere.  ETA One hour.”

Hardisty has just fulfilled his aim of adding a fifth van to the Centre’s fleet and has also successfully won back customers across the franchise location.

Power of Perseverance

The growth of Pirtek Exeter has not been without its challenges, of course.   The conquering of the North Devon area took rather longer than Hardisty anticipated; and the Centre has recently lost a few members of staff along the way.   “Through my time in the Royal Navy, I was exposed to a wide array of management styles.   And my time in places like Iraq and Afghanistan taught me to think on my feet,” he continues.   “But I was surrounded my loyal, dedicated men and women in the Navy.   I knew them well, knew their back story, and what motivated them.   Things are very different with a civilian workforce.”

That being said, Hardisty has particular praise for Dan Paleschi and Richard Jewel who have been loyal and supportive from the beginning and  throughout his transition into civilian life and while he has acclimatised to the specific needs of Devon customers.   “I am new to the area, new to the local way of life, and I am still learning what local customers expect.   Dan and Richard have been a great help in that respect.”

Scott Hardisty is similarly full of praise for his fellow Licensees across the Pirtek UK network.   “It is great to have the support network of a large, national company behind you,” he concludes.   “The ability to call upon their advice and experience during my steep learning curve has been invaluable.”

After 26 years in the Royal Navy, Scott Hardisty jumped ship to follow in the footsteps of his brother-in-law and pursue a career as Licensee with Pirtek UK.

As a 19-year old in Blackpool, Scott Hardisty was looking to satisfy his desire for engineering experience and qualifications with a career in the Merchant Navy.   Unfortunately, for reasons beyond his control, the Merchant Navy proved unable to facilitate the overseas travel he craved.  With a quick change of direction, he joined the Royal Navy instead, attending HMS Raleigh in 1987 to begin a career that would last for more than a quarter of a century.

It was a decision that would pay dividends.   After completing his four year apprenticeship at the since-retired HMS Daedalus, Hardisty moved to Royal Navy Air Station Portland in 1991 where he would hone his skills maintaining the Westland Lynx which until recently was the mainstay of the Royal Navy small ships fleet.

Deployed all around the globe on humanitarian and peace keeping missions Hardisty again chose a new direction joining 3 commando brigade to maintain the Lynx Mk7/9 operated by 847 Squadron. This was a unique and challenging role maintaining an Army aircraft flown by Royal Marines but maintained by Royal Navy engineers. This would see him see action in both Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as other deployments across the globe. On completion of his time on 847 Hardisty was promoted to Warrant Officer, the highest rank a non-commissioned officer can attain and also awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

“I had a job until I was 55 if I wanted it.   But at the age of 46 I had grown tired of the travel and separation and wanted to be closer to my wife Tracey and our two sons so I took the decision to leave.”

A Family Affair

Having worked the required 12-month leave period, Hardisty turned his attention to finding a post-Navy career.   “My brother-in-law – Jason Woods – is the owner of the Pirtek Centres at Gloucester, Kidderminster, and Worcester so I had a pretty good idea of what the company did,” he recalls.   “He seemed to enjoy a decent lifestyle and I had always wanted to run my own business.   So I decided to buy a Pirtek Centre of my own.”

He narrowly missed out on his original target – Pirtek Westbury – and then had to wait until another opportunity came up.   “When Pirtek Exeter came up for sale, I jumped at the chance.”

What Hardisty inherited was a Centre running three mobile sales and service vans and which had largely neglected the North Devon portion of his franchise area.   So the decision was taken to put a fourth van on concentrating in the North Devon area. “There is an incumbent hydraulic hose company in North Devon and that area had always been seen as a waste of time,” he recalls.   “But thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Mobile Sales and Service Technician serving that area – Leon Sussex – we have gradually won over local customers.   Today, North Devon is the second most-successful part of our territory.” “It can take two and a half hours, driving across the moors, to get from one end of our territory to the other,” he explains.   “From the outset, I believed that Pirtek Exeter needed five vans on the road to allow us to deliver on the Pirtek service promise of Anytime.  Anywhere.  ETA One hour.”

Hardisty has just fulfilled his aim of adding a fifth van to the Centre’s fleet and has also successfully won back customers across the franchise location.

Power of Perseverance

The growth of Pirtek Exeter has not been without its challenges, of course.   The conquering of the North Devon area took rather longer than Hardisty anticipated; and the Centre has recently lost a few members of staff along the way.   “Through my time in the Royal Navy, I was exposed to a wide array of management styles.   And my time in places like Iraq and Afghanistan taught me to think on my feet,” he continues.   “But I was surrounded my loyal, dedicated men and women in the Navy.   I knew them well, knew their back story, and what motivated them.   Things are very different with a civilian workforce.”

That being said, Hardisty has particular praise for Dan Paleschi and Richard Jewel who have been loyal and supportive from the beginning and  throughout his transition into civilian life and while he has acclimatised to the specific needs of Devon customers.   “I am new to the area, new to the local way of life, and I am still learning what local customers expect.   Dan and Richard have been a great help in that respect.”

Scott Hardisty is similarly full of praise for his fellow Licensees across the Pirtek UK network.   “It is great to have the support network of a large, national company behind you,” he concludes.   “The ability to call upon their advice and experience during my steep learning curve has been invaluable.”