“Being MD can be lonely with a lot of pressure”
Fast-tracked into the position of Managing Director of COPA-DATA UK at just 32 years old, Martyn Williams credits his initial success to his sales skills, youthful enthusiasm and ego. However, he acknowledges that his learnings from both the IoD Chartered Director programme and self-reflective work have enabled him to gain perspective, identify blind spots, feel the emotional challenges, work on the business rather than in it, and plan for the future.
My parents would say I had to understand how something worked and challenge the status quo by asking why. I went through comprehensive school in the Welsh Valleys during the 1990s and was funnelled into STEM subjects through a natural aptitude. This led to a meandering into engineering. Careers advice was non-existent so I didn’t feel like I had a choice apart from to go to university as there were no alternative pathways such as today’s degree level apprenticeships. Now university can put you in a lifetime of debt – it’s an expensive way of finding out about life.
My final year dissertation explored how existing analogue technology could be connected into the industrial digital world and data encryption. This led me to work for a large corporate that supplied technology related to this dissertation, firstly in a technical role and then into high-tech industrial and manufacturing sales in Manchester, South Wales and the South West selling a mix of products, systems and engineering services for the next 15 years.
I joined COPA-DATA UK with a brief to expand the UK market as part of an international growth plan. After some business challenges, the CEO asked me to step into the position of Managing Director. I was only 32 and in hindsight, a little unprepared, but I took my chance. What I lacked in experience I made up for in youthful enthusiasm and blind naivety. We were in survival mode, so my sales background was helpful. I was comfortable in customer-led environments and understood the importance of developing solutions to make something successful for someone else’s business.
However, being MD can be a lonely position which comes with a lot of pressure, and I recognised I could do with some support. I joined the IoD in 2018 but was too involved in operations to have time to make the most of my membership. After Covid, I was exhausted from doing the same thing over and over, so I decided to go all in. Having considered an MBA, I recognised the Chartered Director programme would be more useful for someone in my position.
The things I learnt during the IoD training scared the hell out of me. No one should be in the position of company director without understanding the level of responsibility and all board directors should complete the “Role of the Director” module. IoD training has helped me be a better MD. I’m less ‘in the business’ and more ‘on the business’ now.
IoD membership has also given me a peer network and put me in a stronger position to explore NED roles. In my industry we are concerned by the skills gap and the lack of suitable talent. I am proud to sit as a board member at GAMBICA – a specialist association shaping the future of industrial and laboratory technologies. We have been working as an industrial body to create a standardised automation apprenticeship pathway supported by industry partners.
I have a similar agenda as a volunteer governor at NPTC Group of Colleges trying to further collaboration between education and industries. I am also keen to explore the untapped potential of ex-military veterans in a future initiative. Many people leave the military with excellent transferable skills, but these aren’t being picked up because of a disconnect in terminology. I am hoping IoD networks and connections can help myself and others join the dots.
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