Maintenance Team
The Maintenance team is led by Roy Thomas, our Maintenance Leader (front left). His team consists of Steve McCarthy, Tony Gorny, Andy Jordan, John Blane, Andy Brooksbank and Matt Latham.
The maintenance team are the technical support for our internal workshop & mobile technicians. This includes the tyre team, which supports the full branch network with all tyre jobs.
Meet Roy
Name: Roy Thomas
Job Title: Maintenance Leader UK & Ireland
TIP Base Location: TIP UK Head office
Start month at TIP: October 2002
How long have you been in the industry and how did you get into it?
My father was service director at an engineering company in Liverpool and he offered me a role as HGV technician, which I accepted in 1987, and I have been in the industry ever since.
What are the main responsibilities of your role?
Effectively, all functions that are related to TIP’s maintenance & repair services. So they cover anything from workshop or mobile maintenance activities, to operator licencing or compliance related matters. Of late, I have been heavily involved in TIP initiatives such as the Mechanic Team Competition and the TIP Mechanic Academy.
What does a typical day for you involve?
Other than daily email management, online meetings and phone calls, much of my day can be spent supporting my team and dealing with matters concerning our workshop and mobile maintenance network.
What do you like about working for TIP?
TIP is a fantastic company to work for. Ever since I started as a technician, I have been supported career-wise and am proud to have become TIP’s maintenance leader. What I like best though is the PEOPLE!! I have some great work colleagues, who I have worked with for many years, and whom I consider to be mates.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your current role?
Technician recruitment, it’s a major challenge to find technicians...
How do you like to start your day?
A nice cup of tea, whilst managing the morning’s initial emails; that’s when the fun begins.
What’s your ideal way to spend your weekends?
I bought a caravan in August 2023, so spend a lot of time in North Wales with the family, including my three amazing granddaughters.
What’s the best advice you were ever given and who was it from?
My dad once said to me to always carry out your work task knowing that someone is going to at some point see what you have done; do it correctly as you don’t want anyone finding things that you have missed or have not done 100% correctly. This has always stuck with me and helped me greatly throughout the years.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
‘Eight Days a Week’ by the Beatles, or ‘Amarillo’ by Tony Christie.
Meet Roy's team
Could you tell us a little bit about your team and its function?
My team of Regional Technical Engineers (RTEs) support TIP’s workshop network across the UK & Ireland, including customer locations where we have mobile maintenance services. Support can mean anything from day-to-day technical assistance, EHS training, tyre services support and much more.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which other team member would you choose to be stranded with and why?
Andy Brooksbank so we can listen to Bowie music or Andy Jordan so we can have an adult conversation about football. 100% NOT JOHN BLANE.
How has your team evolved since it was formed?
TIP has grown considerably over recent years and the increase in the number of sites that we now have, together with other changes, such as upgrade of TIP’s operator licence from ‘restricted’ to ‘standard’, has ensured the team’s skill set has grown substantially too.
Who can sing the best in your team?
None of them, all terrible!
