Meet your tech rep: John Rowlands

In the final edition of this series, we have a chat with F. Ball’s Northern Area Manager, John Rowlands, to find out a bit more about him.

Born in Chopwell, Gateshead, John Rowlands now lives just over six miles away in the town of Consett on the edge of the Pennines, around 14 miles southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne. “I’ve always lived in the north-east; I’m a north-east lad through and through!”

As an area manager, John oversees the work of the six F. Ball technical representatives in the north and in Ireland, giving support and assistance when required. With his 30 years working in the flooring industry, we ask him to recount the career path that led him to his current position:

“I was always very practical even as a child; the lego creations I used to build were unlike anything you’d ever seen!” recalls John. “When I left school aged 16, however, there weren’t a lot of practical jobs available in Newcastle, so I toyed with the idea of joining the army as part of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers corps.

“In the end, I wound up working at a carpet shop in the sales department, then as a fitter, then I became a Contract Sales Rep for Wilkies Distribution, a member of the Headlam group, for eight years. It was there that I met Matt Williams, who would later go on to replace me as F. Ball’s North East technical representative when I was promoted to Northern Area Manager in 2017. I was an F. Ball technical representative for nine years before becoming an area manager, making 2019 my 11th year with F. Ball.”

Sounds like everything worked out well for John! With all that experience, is there anything he finds challenging about the job?

“Sometimes it can be an onerous task trying to convince customers that spending money on optimum products will actually save money on repair work further down the line, but the F. Ball northern team are absolutely second to none. I usually see 25-30 contractors and about 10 wholesalers a week when I’m out with the technical representatives, and all six of them manage their areas brilliantly.

“I really enjoy meeting people as Northern Area Manager, as the majority of people I come across are very nice and straightforward. The flooring industry is large but everyone knows each other, which almost gives it a family feel.”

Very touching. On the subject of family, we ask John about his.

“I’m happy to say that I’ve been married for 20 years to my lovely wife Karen, and we have two great kids: Rebecca, 18, and Andrew, 17. Rebecca is in her first year studying Law at Northumbria University, which she definitely doesn’t get from me – I could fix your house, but I couldn’t write you a novel! Andrew is studying motor mechanics, and the two of us are really into motor sports and off-road challenges. My family are certainly my greatest achievement in life.”