An engineering professional celebrating 25 years with her employer is encouraging the next generation to ‘earn while they learn’. Caroline Gregory, engineering account manager at
Lawton Tubes, joined the copper alloy tube and fittings manufacturer in 2000 following the acquisition of her previous employer, Dorset Tubes, by the fourth-generation family business.
Since then, the 56-year-old has become a key figure at Lawton Tubes’ Poole facility, where the company produces more than six million cut lengths and 300,000 straight lengths of bespoke copper components for engineering applications — including heat exchangers, coolers, condensers, electrical connectors and other custom items — as well as 100,000 coils for the automotive sector.
Her responsibilities range from quoting for potential and confirmed orders, negotiating contracts and call-off agreements, to checking material availability and tooling readiness. She also oversees product certification, coordinates distribution to the company’s Coventry base for cleaning prior to final delivery, manages export packing and courier arrangements, and visits customers both existing and prospective.
Ms Gregory, engineering account manager, said: “A lot of responsibility rests on my shoulders because I am ultimately advising engineers on the correct type of copper they need for their applications. If that goes wrong, then that is an expensive mistake to make. With copper there are certain tempers required for certain applications — so for every order I check what the customer’s intentions are. For example, tube bending and flaring would require totally different tempering processes to the copper, otherwise it creates problems.”
Her expertise, built over decades, extends beyond copper to other metals, starting with her time at Smiths Metals in the 1990s, supplying non-ferrous materials to engineering firms — including one that manufactured racing cars for the IndyCar Series in the USA, where she met her husband.
Learning on the jobMs Gregory added: “I have been able to build up a lot of knowledge about copper and other metals without getting hands-on or going to university or studying — in a way I did an apprenticeship in all but name! That is why I wanted to share my story, to show other people that they can forge a career by taking a chance on a trade and learning as they go.”
A career highlight has been witnessing Lawton Tubes’ growth into a business with an annual turnover of £230 million and exports to 42 countries. Ms Gregory said: “When you talk to engineers, a lot of them are long-serving employees because of the variety of their day-to-day roles, and while that is true for me, it is the family ethos at Lawton Tubes that has played a major role in my longevity with the business — they care about their people and making them feel appreciated. A knock-on effect of that has been that I have also been able to forge some fantastic relationships with some of my customers — to the point where I am now on hugging terms with some of them!”
Among the more unusual orders she has handled is one from Distorted Light, which uses small-diameter copper tube to manufacture patented
War of the Worlds alien lamps. Reflecting on her 25 years with Lawton Tubes — and more than 30 years in the metal engineering industry — Ms Gregory said: “I used to be a competitive swimmer for the Poole Dolphins until I was 15, but my training got changed to 9pm on a weeknight and it was 30 miles from home, so I had no choice but to focus on my studies.
Sometimes I wonder what might have been. Still to this day I can get into a pool and swim 20 to 30 lengths straight off, and my husband will watch in amazement. “Both this and my HIIT workouts ensure I am always raring to go in my day job which I love, and I am looking forward to hitting even more milestones with Lawton Tubes in the future.”