From the RAF to online sales, we talk to Elliott Underwood about his career to date, his role at FilterFinder, and what keeps him entertained outside of work.
How did your career in the hydraulic industry begin?
I’m actually the third generation of the family business at Micro-Mesh. The business was founded by my grandfather Bob Underwood in 1968 and my father James is the current managing director. He started bringing me into the factory when I was as young as 12… although I’m not sure how helpful I was when it came to packing boxes!
How long have you worked for Micro-Mesh and what attracted you to the company?
I joined the business full time in September 2019 when I was 18, with my original plan having been to join the RAF as a WSOp after my A-Levels going through the application to the final stage whilst working at Micro-Mesh as a data analyst. Joining the RAF was following in the footsteps of my great grandfather, who was an officer flying Wellington Bombers during WW2.
When FilterFinder came along in 2020 I realised it was a unique opportunity for me to be involved in something right from the beginning and see it all the way through. I didn’t want to give it any less than 110%, so I decided not to join the RAF and I’ve never looked back.
What does your role entail on a typical day?
My day starts when I get to the office at 8am. My first task is always to look at any enquiries that have come in, then I check my regular emails. After that there are often new parts that have arrived and need to be checked and I’ll also verify that we have the correct current image for them on the website.
At the moment, there’s always some development work to do on the website, which can take up a chunk of my day as well as looking forward for where we are going to take the site in the future whether this be a new market, introducing more product ranges or developing our strategy.
What are your favourite parts of your role?
The great thing about my role at FilterFinder is it’s varied from day to day and there is always a new challenge to keep me on my toes, it feels like such a unique role with a lot of responsibility, which I enjoy.
As we work in manufacturing it’s great that I’m not bound to my desk all day and so I might find myself helping with new projects or improvements within the factory which is a great way of keeping my mind and body active during the day.
How do you spend your time outside work?
A lot of my friends are at uni at the moment and so most weekends I travel and see them, one week I might be in Birmingham and the next in Newcastle, it’s nice not to just be in Nottingham all the time and get the chance to travel round the country. If I’m not doing that my brother and I are big into films and so if there’s something new out we’ll go watch that, as for my favourite movie at the moment I’d have to say Groundhog Day as an absolute classic and one we always watch together as a family.