Keep it in the family

'Like father like son'

One of the most recent recruits to the LSi team is Oliver Simpson. Yes, the surname may be familiar, Oliver is the 19 year old son of MD and founder of LSi, Lloyd Simpson.

Oliver joined us in July and has just completed his 3 months probationary period in the sales support department, so he may already be known to you.

Oliver is a keen sportsman and footballer and after leaving school at 16 he studied Sports Coaching & Development at Huddersfield New College and gained triple distinctions allowing him to attend Leeds Beckett University where he studied Sports Science. However, the pull of the Promotional industry was simply too strong, so realising he was never going to be a scientist, Oliver followed in his father's footsteps and joined LSi in the summer.

Lloyd commented – 'From starting LSi in 1994 we've always been a family orientated company, both my parents have worked for spells at the business and my wife Cheryl has been Company Secretary since 2001, so to now have Oliver in the business just seems the norm. To be fair he has grown up with LSi in his life, he's helped out with premises moves and had a spell in the print room during holiday times to earn extra cash. He wants to go into the sales environment and as University wasn't working out, he took the brave step of leaving and going in a completely different direction.

Its nice knowing he's here, but also a bit weird watching him start out in the same industry, doing the exactly the same things I did when I was his age. My only advice I've given him is to be honest, work hard to build trusted relationships with suppliers and customers, do what you say you will do and everything else will hopefully fall into place.'

Lloyd & Oliver Simpson

Oliver's Q&A

What's it like working with your dad?

Working with my dad great! Growing up, I have had to listen to him talking about work constantly so coming into LSi was not hard for me as I already knew the ins and out of the business. However, I do feel I have a lot more pressure on me than anyone else because on a personal level, I am out to impress and do him proud.

What's the most interesting thing you've found about working at LSi.

TEAMWORK! I didn't realise how many different departments there was until I joined. Everyone helps each other out as a team and the relationship between everyone is brilliant. Also, working in an office full of women is definitely a unique experience I wouldn't recommend to any bloke

Where do you see yourself in 1 year / 3 years / 5 years?

In 1 year, I would like to see myself in sales. I think I have the personality for it… wonder where I get that from.

In 3 years, I am hoping to have a solid client base and good relationships with all my customers that I have built myself

In 5 years, I can see myself with my feet up on my dads desk after putting him in a nice retirement home… the sooner the better! Only joking dad