Apprentice to Managing Director - Spotlight on Matt Squires

Forget what you know or assume about career progression. Matt Squires’ MAN career is one to be proud of. Starting as an HGV Technician, he’s now a senior leader and Managing Director of MAN Truck & Bus Hong Kong. Let’s look at his remarkable journey!

He’s currently Managing Director of MAN Truck & Bus Hong Kong. But he’s also been:

• Operations Manager, MAN Truck & Bus Hong Kong 
• Director New Truck Sales, MAN Truck & Bus UK 
• TopUsed Sales Director, MAN Truck & Bus UK 
• Head of Aftersales & Services, MAN Truck & Bus UK 
• Head of Retail, MAN Truck & Bus UK 
• Head of Aftersales, MAN Truck & Bus Korea
• Head of Network & Processes, MAN Truck & Bus Korea
• Head of Aftersales for Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, MAN Truck & Bus 
• Aftersales Director - South West, MAN Truck & Bus UK 
• Aftersales Director - South, MAN Truck & Bus UK 
• Regional Manager, Technical & Customer Support, MAN ERF UK Ltd 
• Service Manager, Frank Tucker Commercials, Ltd 
• Diagnosis Technician, Lancaster Truck & Van 
• Workshop Foreman, Mercedes Benz Dealership 
• HGV Technician, Heathpark Commercials 
• HGV Apprentice Technician, SpartrucksMercedes Benz Dealership.

How does Matt think it was all possible? “You’ve just got to take the challenge and I hate doing things that are boring. I love a challenge. Dealing with people is what I thrive on.” 

Going back to the beginning, Matt’s career was always destined to be something mechanical. “I used to go with my grandfather to the workshop and was fascinated. If I got a present for Christmas by Boxing Day, it would be in pieces because I wanted to work out how it worked.”

He soon had an opportunity to get an apprenticeship within the motor vehicle industry. “I continued my experience with commercial vehicles, working on agricultural vehicles, and generally across machinery and engineering. As an apprentice working on the workshop floor, any opportunity that came up, if it was different, I would do it.” 

Fast forward, and Matt’s old boss needed a workshop manager. He believed in Matt’s abilities, and with some management training, he was able to take the role. Passing three years of HNC and HND with distinctions is something he was rightfully proud of – “I'm not an academic person. I hated school. I couldn’t wait to leave. In hindsight, I wish I'd studied and put in more effort when I was younger.” 

Matt showed no signs of slowing down and embraced the technical side of his role alongside people management. “I loved dealing with people. I could connect with people, and I could see that that was something that I found it easier to do. So, I was given an opportunity to become a Shift Team Leader. The plan was for me to take over as Service Manager in three years. Within 12 months, I'd taken over the managerial role of the business as Service Manager, and then within three years, I was the Aftersales Manager. I was responsible for parts and service for the dealership. I also won Service Manager of the Year and was delighted to be recognised and that the hard work paid off.” 

By 2006, he’d moved to work for MAN directly and relocated. By 2008, he’d moved into the After Sales Director role, managing the whole of the South of the country. Two years in, an unexpected phone call invited him to Munich. “I’d been put forward to a job in Seoul in South Korea. It wasn't the sort of holiday destination you would think of. It was a massive change for all my family. They didn't know where Seoul was!”

He spent three years developing the EURO 5 product, during which he was also responsible for South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore’s after sales. Matt recalls the impressive growth: “From 287 vehicles, within three years, we were selling about 1,100-1,200 vehicles yearly. We'd grown from 6 or 7 to nearly 15 after sales dealers. And the business was moving quicker than some local management could handle. So, I became Aftersales Director.”

He was invited in 2015 to help the UK team and, after a restructure, took full responsibility for the entire aftersales organisation, including all the private capital dealer partners and the entire aftersales programme. “My end game was always to be a Managing Director, and I’d been told that the best way to become an MD was to have a good understanding of the business units you needed to manage.” With this in mind, Matt took over TopUsed and made improvements. “It was all about getting the right people and the foundations in place, which I did.” 

But he didn’t stop there! He returned to Aftersales again for two years, growing and developing the offering. He was also part of the executive team board team during the pandemic. “We learned how to be more effective, efficient, really understood staff and well-being more. I think COVID pushed a lot of companies more into well-being, which was great.”

And then, coming out of 2020, MAN’s Sales Director retired. Matt was encouraged by the managing director at the time, who was also his mentor, to take on the role. After getting some life coaching support, Matt was able to get closer to people with their own struggles and grow as a leader. “I could share my emotions and I wasn't ashamed to. I think the job we do as leaders is about emotions. It's showing when to lead and when to show a vulnerable side. And it's OK to be vulnerable.”

Becoming Sales Director of MAN UK was memorable: “We had the best performance of the UK sales team in 15 years. And it's down to people. I can take credit for a lot of things because you're the person at the top of the tree, but it's all about the people beneath you, the support mechanisms you have empowering people.”

Even now, as Managing Director, Matt sees his efforts as a work in progress. “It's a challenge I love, but equally, it’s given me the opportunity to really put my stamp on a business. I've got the right people now around me and we're building this team. Life and business are all about the values you hold within you. And if you can't be truthful and honest with yourself, and if you can't live by your values in the job that you do, then you're probably in the wrong job. MAN enable me to live by my values and they've invested in me considerably over my working career. And you know, that's why I can sit here today and say I'm pretty much on my 29th year within the organisation. The business has always been incredibly supportive.”

For Matt, it doesn't matter what language you speak. “You can always find a way to communicate with people, and you can always work out what a customer wants or a staff member wants. Travelling around the world is a fantastic opportunity, and my kids are already speaking Mandarin after being in Hong Kong for eight months. They do it every day! I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I'd be living in Hong Kong or all the countries I've been and worked in. You can go anywhere you want if you put your mind to it.”

We couldn’t agree more. To make yourself proud and become part of The Pride, view our vacancies here.