For this month’s Meet The Team we catch up with Christian Brake, Technical Sales Consultant, who has been part of the Kersia UK team for five months.
Which area of the UK do you cover in your role?
I work across the Southwest England, looking after the M5 corridor which includes Taunton- Hereford. I started my role on 3rd May 2022 so I’m just going into my fifth month. I have used Kersia’s services for about eight years now and over that time I have been looked after by numerous Technical Sales Consultants so am familiar with the work they do.
What was your career path to the role?
Ever since leaving college I have been working in the food industry. I started working in admin for the hygiene department of a chilled meal solutions site then worked my way up to Hygiene Manger, looking after teams as small as 10 operatives up to about 60 operatives at some sites. I have worked at various sites that produce cakes, sweet buns, cheese, salads and spice/oil packaging.
I have always enjoyed working in food hygiene due to the job being fast paced and no two days being the same. It always keeps you on your toes due to audit requirements or periodical cleaning, there’s always something to be organising/preparing.
I have worked for various companies including 2 Sisters Food Group, Warburtons and Country Style Foods.
What responsibilities does your job include?
It includes a variety of different things. I carry out various audits to check our customer’s Hygiene Department are compliant and following site procedures. This helps prepare sites before big customer audits. My job also entails recommending chemicals to use, training departments on chemical safety, recommending engineering products such as hose pipes, dosing units or chemical containers, responding to customer queries regarding hygiene issues and creating service schedule with customers to ensure they receive a plan that works for them, not just a generic plan.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
To be honest I love every aspect of this job. It has been something I have been working towards for so long now. If I had to pick one thing, I guess it would be that I get to travel to various sites ranging from bakeries to abattoirs, it keeps the job interesting as everyone has different requirements and I can pass on knowledge from my experiences or contact my team for further recommendations to solve an issue. in short, I just love seeing the various processes of different factories and being able to help make a difference passing on hygiene knowledge and communicating with site contacts.
What does a typical day include?
On a typical day I will be visiting sites to do audits, training or general routine visits. After these visits I will type up a site visit report and email to the site contacts for future reference. Between these visits I am usually responding to any queries from customers or my team.
What would you dream job be?
I would have to say the job I am in now - Technical Sales Consultant with Kersia UK. It really is my dream job.
I have always loved my career choices progressing through hygiene management ranks and now into sales. It can be hard working in hygiene sector, but it has been rewarding and I have met some amazing people and made some great friends along the way from all walks of life. To be here now and working for Kersia a company that has helped me so much through my whole career in the food industry, by giving me knowledge and information to assist me in my roles Is amazing. Over the years I have always said one day I will be working here, and now I can pass on my knowledge and help various sectors of the food industry with hygiene queries.
