WELLINGTON WELDING ONLINE - Key Persons
Alun Jones joined Wellington Welding Supplies in March 2015. Prior to that Alun worked at a large pet food supplier in Fareham for 15 years in a variety of roles including warehouse manager and trade development manager.
Alun went to Henry Cort Community School where he achieved excellent GCSEs in a range of subjects before going on to Fareham College where he studied Business Studies.
Away from work Alun enjoys a variety of interests including watching rugby and football, making and listening to music and travelling.
Andrew Chatham joined WWS in February 1997 and is responsible for all the deliveries made from the Barnstaple depot. He also ably assists internally and is that slightly Brummy accent you may well hear if you phone the depot.
Andrew moved to Devon in 1988 and has two boys Lee and Gary.
His main hobby is playing cricket for Newton Tracy Cricket Club league where he is Secretary and Groundsman. Newton Tracy is a village club that plays in the North Devon league and Andrew claims he is particularly strong on post match analysis, normally carried out in the local.
Andrew Thomas first joined the company in 1981 after a brief but successful career with BOC. He swiftly settled into sales and by 1991 had risen to become Sales Director.
For all those that know him they will recognise a description of larger than life and twice as enthusiastic. Andrew is married to Janette and has two children Tim and Brittany.
Carol Holden joined us in April 1999 and is now the Finance Officer for the company having overall responsibility for accounts administration.
Carol was born and brought up in Plymouth and has had a variety of jobs in finance before joining WWS.
Currently she is enrolled on an open learning Advanced Bookeeping and Accountancy Course with Mid-Kent College.
Away from work Carol has a strong interest in aromatherapy and has attended 3 courses on this subject. She is also fond of cooking and enjoys swimming and aerobics.
Dan Newcombe joined Wellington Welding Supplies Ltd in November 2016. Prior to this he was helping his brother run a local hostelry where he was for 2 years. Amazingly he also worked previously with Alun Jones at the same pet food business where he was a senior supervisor.
Away from work Dan is a fanatical Manchester City supporter and enjoys watching all football, especially when Manchester City play and beat the other Manchester side!
Gary Ellis joined Wellington Welding Supplies in January 2020 as our main delivery driver for the Avonmouth depot.
Prior to joining us, he spent a few years in record management, this involved both storage and delivery of records to hospitals, solicitors offices and the like and was based in Avonmouth.
When not at work Gary likes to spend quality time with his young 4 year old daughter and going to the gym, presumably not at the same time. He also admits to liking Go Karting and Chelsea FC. He currently lives in Weston Super Mare and thinks the daily commute to Avonmouth is not the worst commute possible. Some may beg to differ.
John Pulling was originally born in Kenya where he grew up until he was 10 years old and then moved back to Wimborne with his family.
After school John joined the Royal Navy as an Electronic Warfare Technician for a seven year stint. After this John joined Wellington Welding Supplies for his first period which ran from 1987 to 2004, there then followed a brief stint with a local fastenings company which meant that although he no longer worked for us we could at least keep an eye on him.
June Airey joined the company in November 2008 and her responsibilities mainly include purchase ledger accounts but she also answers the phone and does general admin.
Lee Bates joined Wellington Welding Supplies in July 2016. Prior to joining us he worked at Princess Yachts as a laminator.
In his youth Lee played rugby for Plymouth Albion and twice represented Devon, sadly a knee injury sustained whilst playing hockey put an end to his rugby playing days.
Away from work Lee enjoys watching most sports including football and rugby and socialising with his friends. He is also the proud father of two sons who he hopes will follow in his rugby playing footsteps.
Lee is Plymouth born and bred and knows the city like the back of his hand.
Marcel Dumitru joined Wellington Welding Supplies Ltd in 2018.
He is a very experienced and knowledgeable engineer with a background of over 25 years experience in IT with a Master Degree in Industrial Electronics. Before joining our team, he has worked first as a teacher for 12+ years, then as a Service & Maintenance Engineer for about 10 years.
He is happily married to his wife, Sica, and is a proud father of two: Teo and Vled.
On his free time he continues to develop his interest for computers and technologies, plays table tennis and likes to travel and practice with foreign languages
Mark Bailey joined Wellington Welding Supplies in April 2010 fresh from a stint with another local welding distributor who was going through some rather awkward times.
Mark is a big fan of Kemppi equipment and has clocked up quite an impressive number of sales.
Mark as can be seen from his photo is a quiet, retiring sort of an individual and anyone who knows him will recognise this description.
Away from work Mark is a keen family man and enjoys surfing holidays in Cornwall with his wife Amy and his two sons who also race mini-motor bikes adorned with Wellington Welding logos.
Matt Binney joined Wellington Welding Supplies in October 2012. Matt possesses a wide range of welding knowledge gained from both study and experience having completed a City & Guilds qualification covering Welding Craft Practice, Welding Engineering Craft Studies and Advanced Welding Engineering Studies.
His practical experience stems from over 25 years spent in the family welding equipment/industrial gas business where he was responsible for all aspects of sales including demonstrations and service work.
His background perfectly complements his role within Wellington Welding Supplies developing new business opportunities in the Hampshire and Thames Valley area as well as overall responsibility for the branch.
Outside of work Matt enjoys his family, various DIY projects, fishing, and supporting his son's local football team.
Mick Ross began with Wellington Welding Supplies on the 9th January 2024 following the retirement of Rob Binnie after 13 years with us and reaching the grand old age of 73.
Prior to joining Wellington Welding Mick spent 16 years with the National Trust as a Warden Supervisor. Mick lives locally in Redruth and is married to Suzanne.
Originally Mick is from Yorkshire but moved to Cornwall in 1982. Mick's slightly unusual hobby is Archery being proficient in Compound, Bare Bow and Olympic Recurve.
In addition to all his other skills Mick has a working knowledge and practice of most areas of welding. Ideal.
Neil Kennedy joined Wellington Welding after gaining previous experience working in internal sales for Parkins Ltd, concentrating mainly on welding related products.
Neil has been with the company since 1998 and from 2017 covers Devon exclusively, prior to this he was also covering Somerset.
Highly skilled, he has probably been on more courses than any other individual within the company.
Paul Gale is in to his second stint working for the company having first worked for us over 20 years ago.
Paul has a very extensive knowledge of all types of metal working machinery including all types of welders and welder generators.
Whatever free time he has he devotes to working with his local scout group, being one of the army of local volunteers that keep things going.
Philip Goldney has been employed in various capacities with Wellington Welding since leaving university in 1975. He started at the Poole depot working in the stores and subsequently went into sales.
He pioneered the opening of the second depot in Plymouth in 1976 becoming a director in the same year.
He became Managing Director in 1990 and during his time the company has cemented itself in the top flight of welding distributors.
Philip Spargo joined the company in April 1987 and has since proved to be a diligent and hard-working employee.
Phil has overseen the transfer of the branch from the less glamorous premises we used to occupy to the pleasant, modern unit we now call home, complete with such modern facilities such as toilets (internal) and heating in Winter, a far cry from his early days with the company.
Among his many hobbies he finds time for long distance running which, if you know the topography of Cornwall, you will know is hard work.
Richard Young joined Wellington Welding Supplies Ltd in January 2014. After leaving the Royal Navy in 2010 Richard had a number of jobs including valeting BMW cars and a spell at a well known celebrity chef's restaurant in Plymouth as a pastry chef. We hope he has now found his true vocation and we can develop his obvious people skills.
Richard originally comes from Staffordshire and away from work he enjoys socialising with friends and family and retains a strong interest in the food industry.
Roger Libretto joined Wellington Welding Supplies in November 2016 having worked for Air Products for 20 years in a variety of roles including bayman, driver & finally agent support specialist where he enjoyed a very special relationship with his many agents.
Stephen Martin-Harris joined Wellington Welding Supplies in September 2016. Prior to this Stephen worked in a number of roles relating to Marine Seismic work which included life offshore and abroad, having spent time in Colombia and Australia.
Stephen has a BSc Degree in Electronic Design and has taken to his current role with great aptitude and enthusiasm. Away from work Stephen has a daughter Abby with his long standing partner Becky.
Steve Bull joined Wellington Welding Supplies in August 2015. Prior to this Steve worked at Southampton City College as a Workshop Technician primarily looking after the welding and pipefitting workshop and before this he was with Southampton Technical College as an Associate Lecturer teaching Pipefitting, Manual Metal Arc Welding and Oxy-Acetylene Gas Welding practical skills.
He is a time served apprentice as a pipe fitter welder and very well placed should you have any query relating to the goods he is delivering.
Away from work Steve is married to Margaret, & enjoys travelling, including a recent trip to France. Other trips have included Cyprus & Majorca. Steve has many other interests including seeing theatre shows & live concerts.
Tom White joined Wellington Welding Supplies in February 2015. Prior to that Tom served his time as a sheet metal worker completing a full apprenticeship.
The bright lights of welding distribution soon beckoned and he has worked for a number of welding distributors including West Country Welding, Avon Industrial, now no longer with us and latterly BOC (Wessex Industrial Supplies).
Away from work Tom enjoys skiing, gardening at his allotment and walking. Tom is married to Emma.