01732 759725
50
AND FINALLY
Shaun Wilkinson,
Managing Director, UTAX (UK) Ltd
60 seconds with…
What was your first job?
Working in the local DIY shop. It was the most fantastic learning experience.
What would be your dream job?
Golf Pro. Never going to happen, but I can dream.
Money’s not an issue, what’s your perfect car … and where
would you like to drive it?
Aston Martin DB9S. It oozes power and refinement. I could terrify myself by
driving on the autobahns in Germany and then enjoy the sublime handling
whilst driving through the beautiful scenery of the Alps.
Fine dining and good wine, or curry and a pint?
Never say no to a chicken Korma, but you can’t beat really well cooked
food, fine Rioja and great company.
Favourite holiday destination.
It would be a two-stop holiday. Istria in Croatia for its sheer beauty and
then off to Portugal for a few games of golf in the sunshine.
How do you like to spend your spare time?
Playing the electric guitar badly, but as loud as I can, playing golf and
trying to spend quality time with my family.
What’s currently having the greatest
impact on your business?
We are attracting more and more partners, so
keeping pace with their increasing demand for
solutions is a good challenge to have. Luckily we
saw this coming and have been able to adapt very
quickly to ensure we continue to offer the high
level of support that our reputation is built on.
Where do you see the next big
opportunity?
Solutions business is already well entrenched
in many markets and growth is outpacing
every other product category. Customers
are demanding more functionality from
their localised devices so our new range of
professional A4 Colour MFPs, with full finishing
capabilities, fulfils this demand.
What would make your day job easier?
The internal deployment of the solutions and
apps that we sell is really helping to streamline
our internal processes and enables me to do a
lot more with less. Being able to type faster with
more accuracy would be superb. I am a two-
finger typist and, try as I might, I can’t seem to
get the other eight fingers to do what my brain
tells them.
What’s the best bit of business advice
you’ve been given?
Treat the people you work with, whether it be
colleagues, customers or suppliers, as you want
to be treated yourself and you won’t go far
wrong.
If you had had a crystal ball, would you
have done anything differently?
Bought property just after the 1989 crash rather
than just before it. It took 10 years to recover.
Describe your most embarrassing moment.
I can’t mention the colonic irrigation, so it would
be whilst installing a new EPOS system for a
customer. I had to copy the software program
from a previously installed device but managed
to get them the wrong way round. The result was
two completely unprogrammed machines, about
20 minutes before opening. Luckily I was young
so my heart could withstand the stress, but I have
never sweated so much.
