Steve Walton 

My name is Steve Walton and I am the Warehouse Night Shift Manager.
I started at Freefoam in 2007 so I’ve been here 16 years. Over that time I’ve done most of the different warehouse roles, including picker, checker, Team Leader and Supervisor. I’ve worked my way up - so I know the job inside out!
My shift starts at 3.30pm and goes through until 6am. We run two night shifts, 3.30pm - 1pm and 8pm - 5am. Basically we need to get all that mornings customer orders - from the cut off at 11am - picked ready for dispatch by 6am.
I start by collecting the picks from the warehouse office and sort them. I prioritise any that are urgent, and allocate larger orders to more experienced pickers.
As the picks are completed we check each stillage against the pick sheet to make sure it is all correct. If we find any errors the order is passed back to the picker to put right. We find this really reduces mistakes going out customers.
It’s quite a tough job in the winter when it’s wet and cold, but in the summer I enjoy being outside Because it’s a physical job it needs to be the right person. We’ve got a good team now, with the majority full time permanent with us.
I enjoy working at Freefoam. I’ve stayed because of the job progression. I started at the bottom, and I’m now at the top!
I’ve done training on the combi truck and a management course and Jim, our warehouse manager, has helped me develop in to this job. The night shift fits in well with my family and I’ll be here to stay!