Sam Cowley joined Colson Valves in April 2025 as Technical Estimator, bringing with him a strong background in aerospace commercial teams. He’d been doing similar work before – pricing jobs, comparing bids, working through complex specifications – just for a different industry. At Colson, he sits within the operations team but works closely with sales on a day-to-day basis.
What prompted the move from aerospace?
The business I was at had grown a lot and the culture had shifted with it. It started out a similar size to Colson and had that same kind of feel, but over time it became very corporate. That was the main driver for a change. I’d also just had my little girl, so the timing felt right to find somewhere that suited where I was in life. When I came to visit Colson, it had a nice family feel to it – a small, focused business that was clearly doing well. That definitely appealed to me.
What does a typical day involve?
The sales team will receive an enquiry and decipher the customer’s data sheets into a part code, which comes across to me. I’ll find the closest existing drawing or part number, break it down into its manufactured components, and work out what it would cost the business to make – materials, machining time, internal trim, anything sourced externally. I liaise with the procurement team and the shop floor to get accurate, up-to-date costs, then pass that back to the sales team so they can raise a quotation.
I work closely with our buyer Stephen – if I’m going out to the supply chain on materials or trim, it makes sense to have that relationship. Before Stephen joined, I covered quite a bit of the buying myself, alongside picking and shipping, and I’m often still the go-to when cover is needed.
You’re currently on the BVAA Future Leaders Programme. Can you tell us about that?
The BVAA Future Leaders Programme is the British Valve and Actuator Association’s flagship leadership development scheme – now in its tenth year, with over 60 graduates across the industry. Each cohort brings together people from different businesses across the UK valve and actuator sector for around 20 days of development over the course of a year, covering technical and commercial training alongside visits to refineries, manufacturing centres and engineering sites. Delegates who complete it receive a formal qualification accredited by the Chartered Management Institute.
I’m part of Cohort 9. The opening session included psychometric profiling and a full day focused on presenting – five recorded presentations, with peer feedback after each one. I came away with the peer-voted award for most improvement shown over the day, which meant a lot given it’s voted for by fellow cohort members rather than the organisers.
I’ve been on training courses before where I’ve come out thinking, did I really need that? This one’s been different. I’ve genuinely come away feeling like I’ve gained something.
What do you find most rewarding about the role?
The people, to be honest. A lot of people come to work and don’t particularly enjoy who they’re working with. I don’t have that problem here. If someone’s having a tough day, people pull together. That makes a huge difference.
In terms of the role itself, I’ve put together a set of KPIs that link my estimating activity to monthly sales and production figures. It’s partly about showing the impact the role has on the business – being able to see how what I do connects to what we actually win and make. When I first showed that to Chris, he really valued having that visibility. It’s rewarding to find a way to demonstrate impact where it wasn’t being tracked before.
And the most challenging part?
Also the people, but in a different way. Our Sales team occasionally sends me an enquiry with complex specs that make you think. Sometimes we get enquiries for things that push the limits of what we can manufacture in-house – large trunnions, for example – which means sourcing external capability and materials that aren’t straightforward to find.
How would you describe the culture here?
It gets busy, particularly towards the end of the month, but I think that’s true of most businesses. Once it calms down, everyone resets quickly. The directors do a lot to look after people – summer barbecues, the MD, Chris coming round with ice creams when it’s hot. Small things, but they add up.
What I’d particularly say is that there’s no office and shop floor divide here, which you do find in a lot of manufacturing businesses. Everyone gels together, and the move to the new building has cemented that – having everyone in the same space makes a real difference.
If you’d like to find out more contact the Colson Valves team, we’re always happy to help!