Management Team

Chris Fox

Managing Director

Chris has been immersed in the business his whole life, and has plied his trade in virtually all elements of the business from sales, to design; from health and safety to factory management. This hands-on approach has allowed Chris to understand all parts of business and create a strategy based on that experience.

From a young age, Chris listened to his father in the family home and was destined to become part of the family business. He nearly joined the Royal Engineers save for a change in the army’s recruitment policy, and since that point he has never looked back.

His first role was to refurbish the site at Carnforth, which involved many aspects of work even including learning how to weld! He has also worked closely with his brother Steve in the training element of the business. More recently he has implemented and overseen many changes including the management structure of the business, and of course the company buyout.

Today, Chris continues to look after the overall management of the business, but remains very hands on, and closely works with the production team to ensure the factory and the site as a whole are operating as they should.

Richard Smith

Sales and Marketing Manager

Having become a fully qualified mechanical engineer in the late 1970s, Richard quickly entered sales at the tender age of 21. Since his first sales role, he has gained extensive experience across many markets and industries working in the utilities market undertaking fossil and nuclear power projects, as well as working within the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries.

Throughout his career, Richard has also worked with, and sold to several major blue-chip companies including British Gas, Shell, BP, Boots, Astra Zeneca and Glaxo Smith Kline. He has also been awarded a Fellowship of the Institute of Sales and Marketing. (ISMM)

Richard has been at Stressline for nearly ten years during which time he has re-established Stressline within the heavy side merchant and house builder sectors. He is also currently continuing to develop the commercial sales and marketing activities of Stressline’s expanding product portfolio.

Jodie Fox

Senior Operations Manager

Whilst Jodie bears the Fox moniker, she has taken the long way round to join the family business. Her career spans several industries including hotel and leisure, food manufacture, health and safety, and retail. In 2005 she set up her own catering business after a year of travelling, and after a couple of successful years she sold her business to work at Stressline.

Starting as a transport planner, Jodie has worked her way up to become the Senior Operations Manager, and by putting together initiatives like the back haulage service and reducing sub contracted deliveries from 60% to 15%, developing the company owned transport fleet, she is now an integral part of the management team.

As well as transport her wide ranging role includes the overall responsibility for production planning, stock control, design and all aspects of HR. She has successfully completed her Transport Manager CPC, Certificate in Personnel Practice, and a post graduate diploma in Human Resource Management.

Gemma Wilson

Company Accountant

Gemma has worked for Stressline for nearly 12 years, and has over 20 years accounting experience. She is an Associate Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) as well as a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). In addition, she is is AAT and CIMA qualified, and Gemma’s CV includes roles in retail, parcel delivery, hotel industry as well as manufacturing.

Her role at Stressline is to present accurate and relevant information on the company performance and help the management team develop financial strategies.