Cover interview
Changes at the top, but business as usual XYZ Machine Tools recently saw its first change of figurehead in 40 years. In an excusive interview Machinery & Manufacturing talks to Managing Director Martin Burton about his ambitions for the business.
Following the retirement of company founder and previous Managing Director Nigel Atherton after 40 years at the helm of XYZ Machine Tools, Martin Burton knew he had a tough act to follow. Fortunately, with 35 years of his own experience at XYZ to call upon, he was well placed to take up the challenge. “I joined the business in 1990 as a third-year
apprentice fitter on the shop floor,” he says. “A little while later I went out on the road as a service engineer, then subsequently became XYZ’s first applications engineer.” Shortly after, with business booming, Nigel wanted to concentrate more on company management, asking Martin to step into sales. “I had big shoes to fill on Nigel’s sales patch,
38 Machinery & Manufacturing
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