Hylton Nesbitt talks to Ian Reynolds-Young
Ask anybody at ARN and they’ll tell you that their colleagues become more than simply workmates: to be a member of staff is to be a member of the family. So, it came as no surprise to be asked to contribute to the celebrations that surround Hylton Nesbitt reaching the milestone of 20 years service for vending’s favourite wholesaler.
Talking to Hylton is always like taking a breath of fresh air, even more so in these troubled times where bad news is the perennial backdrop to daily life. When we got together last week, Hylton was as chipper as ever. I ask him, ‘it’s a hell of a landmark isn’t it, 20 years?’ and he came back at me with ‘aye, but it feels a lot longer!’
Hylton started work for ARN at the age of 42, having achieved conspicuous success at the late, lamented Palmer & Harvey as ‘a van salesman of pop, crisps and gum’.
‘Hylton is one of a kind. He is an incredibly helpful partner to have – he is passionate about our business and the vending industry as a whole. He is very responsive when we have queries (even out of business hours) and works very hard to support and retain our business and make a real difference. When Hylton visits, he isn’t rushing off and makes us feel extremely valued as a customer. It is great to work with Hylton for someone who cares about delivering a great partnership between the two businesses.’ Andrew Nicklin. Options Management Limited
‘In some ways I can thank Jamie Oliver for my job at ARN’, he says. ‘At that time he had a programme on telly, ‘Jamie’s School Dinners’ in which he successfully pressured the UK government to ban ‘junk food’, including crisps, chocolate and sugary drinks, from school vending machines and cafeterias. It culminated with all the vending machines getting kicked out of schools. So there I was, working for Palmer & Harvey, doing all the local stuff around the North East, selling at the garages, corner shops and so on when I was approached by Automatic Retailing. ‘Look, vending machines are getting kicked out of schools. We need to get some of this business back. Would you come and work for us and approach all your corner shops, your garages and stuff like that where the kids are going to go to spend their money?’ That’s how I got started.’
There wasn’t much in the way of training. They gave him a pricelist and told him to get on with it. For six months, that’s what he did: it was enough to earn the attention of a chap named Crichton, who knew a good man when he saw one and inviegled Hylton into his vending team.
They gave him a pricelist and told him to get on with it.
‘I never looked back’, Hylton says. ‘As you know, vending is a hard sector to break into. But once you get through the rough time, you’re in there. John (Crichton) was a massive help in my early days. When I had doubts, he said: ‘Look, I trust you. Just go and do it. Do what you’ve got to do. Do your job.’
‘Trust’, and ‘do what you’ve got to do’. That’s the house style at ARN. ‘That’s how it was when I started and it’s still like that now. We’re not micro-managed. John told me once, ‘keep your till ringing and you’ll not hear from me.’
Which is great – but not entirely true. When Hylton was diagnosed with bowel cancer, the family gathered around him, even dedicating their annual fund-raiding event to the charity Bowel Cancer UK. Hylton was moved by the gesture, not least the eagerness of his colleagues to sign-up for a gruelling trek up Ben Nevis.
“As Livewell’s ARN Account Manager, Hylton has always been really helpful and great to deal with. Just as importantly, he’s really enthusiastic and always first to the bar to get a round in!’ Aaron Prout, Livewell
What he didn’t realise at the time was how much his response to his diagnosis inspired his colleagues. After having had chemotherapy on Monday, he was in work as usual on Tuesday morning. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone – ‘I can’t sit in the house. I don’t have a manual job and I’d sooner be in work than sitting about. If you can go on as normal, I reckon that’s what you should do.’ – but impress them, he did…
There have been plenty of highs in the past 20 years. ‘The best memories are centred on watching the business growing. It’s been really good. It’s been challenging too, mind, don’t get me wrong. There’s been lots of laughter, lots of enjoyment, lots of tears. Every time we got a new customer, we celebrated.’
There have been occasions when other potential employers sounded Hylton out, but he’s stayed put. ‘ARN really look after me, and they make sure I want to work for them, you know what I mean? It is a really good business to work for.’
Massive congratulations to Hylton from everyone at Venda Valet on a terrific achievement at Automatic Retailing. Hylton is someone we have worked closely with for a number of years along with his partner in crime John Crichton, where he has shown nothing but respect, care and passion for his customers and the industry. Much like ourselves, Hylton treats customers as friends, as opposed to customers, meaning when there is an issue he cares deeply and takes it personally and this goes a long way in building a fantastic working relationship and also friendship. Congratulations again and here’s to many more years of working together from everyone at Venda Valet! Flynn, Venda Valet
He’s 62 years old now and while others might be winding down to well-earned retirement, Hylton is still hard at work. The spectre of having nothing useful to do seems to haunt him. ‘I’ve got three years to go and if it turned out to be longer than that, that’s fine by me. I’m in no rush to go sunbathing!’
Gordon Johnston, the ARN Sales Director and Hylton’s line manager, highlights his dedication. ‘When you bear in mind his ‘patch’, up as far north as Inverness, across to the northwest, as far south as Hull, and everywhere in between, it’s no wonder he’s got some serious miles on his clock. More that that though, Hylton has shown unerring commitment to our customer base and seeing their businesses grow alongside ours. As much as people buy from Automatic Retailing, at the end of the day, ‘people buy people’ and fortunately for us, Hylton’s one of the finest, most determined, most personable of salespeople we could have wished to have. He’s also much loved for his demeanour: he’s an individual, his personality is just infectious. He makes everybody laugh. He’s the best at one-liners. He’s an unbelievable family man as well. ‘One of the gems of the industry’. That’s how I’d describe him.’
Hylton’s one of the finest, most determined, most personable of salespeople we could have wished to have
The good news for Gordon is that there’s a long way to go before it’s his job to replace the irreplaceable Hylton Nesbitt.
Hylton said: ‘Working for ARN has been a pleasure. And like I said, we’ve had good times and rough times, but when you started from absolutely nothing and compare that business to where we are now, You look back and think, ‘Wow!’ You know what I mean?
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