STL MMS Evo, our flagship IT platform for wholesalers, is in hot demand – not only amongst existing STL customers but by an increasing number of new operators seeking to future-proof their businesses with intelligent software, robust hardware and advanced security from a response service provider. To make their migration as smooth and profitable as possible, we’ve appointed Antony Wilkinson to help them assess and specify their requirements.
Meet Tony Wilkinson
New Pre-Sales Technical Support team member, Tony Wilkinson, brings multiple skills to STL having worked for nearly three decades in the wholesale IT sector.
A mechanical engineer by training, he commenced his career with a manufacturer of lifts and lifting gear where he became fascinated with robotics as he increasingly took on the programming of the company’s Computer Numerical Controlled machines. He also enjoyed the training aspect of his job, and this spurred him on to seek a more customer-facing role which took him into a job selling the abrasives he’d used at the factory.
It was there that he first met STL’s Managing Director Ivan Durkin and Finance Director Tim Dobie, who were impressed not only by his training abilities but how quickly he picked up the configuration skills required to alter the systems to customer requirements during site visits.
When Riva downsized a few years later, Bestway snapped him up. It was a successful pairing with Tony progressing to Application Support Manager, SQL Database Administrator and Project Manager.
After 30 years of up to 200-mile commutes and 12-hour days, Tony thought he’d try semi-retirement, but soon found that ‘sitting around’ doesn’t suit him – not that that surprised anyone who knows him.
A man of seemingly boundless energy, outside of the office he’s raised two sons and is now a doting grandfather. Determined not to be ‘an armchair grandad’ he keeps fit playing badminton three-times a week, cycling at least twice, and jet skiing ‘whenever he gets the chance’.
However, living near Holmfirth he’s more typically found on dry land, where he enjoys both the ‘mindfulness’ of clay pigeon shooting, and the ‘mindlessness’ of walking his old springer and new border collie x Staffordshire bull terrier rescue pup – in woodlands, in the Peak District or (preferably) down the old wool processing trails to the local pub.
Having met and worked with various STL personnel throughout his career, Tony’s now really looking forward to his new challenge at STL. He said, ‘Ivan and Tim have always inspired me with their forward-thinking vision for STL, and I already know what great fun they are to work with. More than anything, I can’t wait to get under the bonnet of MMS Evo so I can help customers achieve the very best practice and get the most from their IT investments from the outset.’
