Growing CoolKit brings in new operations director

CoolKit, the rapidly-growing temperature-controlled van specialist, has appointed a highly-experienced engineer and manufacturing operations expert as its new operations director. 

Joe Gleave, joins CoolKit as it looks to fulfil record sales orders for a second successive year, despite a blaze which destroyed its main van conversion premises in Burnley only six months ago. 

Since then, CoolKit has re-established its conversion premises at a new site that is some 50 per cent larger than previously. Situated on a secure four-acre plot just off the M65 at Whitebirk, Blackburn, the site includes 75,000 square feet of workshop that accommodates 60 vans at a time. At the same time it has relocated and upscaled its panel manufacturing operations to its other Burnley site.

Joe, who has a passion for enhancing businesses through process improvements and people development, said he had joined CoolKit to implement the transformation required to grow in line with the company’s business plan to double output within three years.

He said: “I’ve come for the challenge, a complex challenge. And, while I have been here only a short time, I already know I’m not on my own. There’s a ton of people with a can-do attitude trying to continually improve our processes and that’s massive.” 

After leaving Sheffield University with a MEng honours degree specialising in Aerospace Engineering, Joe progressed from a manufacturing engineer with 3M Health Care to site MT leader and Lean Six Sigma coach.

From there he rose through the ranks to Pratt & Whitney value streams operations director at RLC Aerospace before becoming UK plant director at the Aqualung Group, where he was responsible for the manufacturing operation in the UK as managing director of Apeks Marine Equipment. 

Daniel Miller, CoolKit’s managing director, said: "We have been fortunate in being able to appoint such an outstandingly experienced operations director as Joe. 

“He has all the qualities we were looking for to help move the business forward. He is a consummate professional in his field and I am excited about the business’s future success as Joe joins an executive team that has made a transformational change over the last 12 months.”