Meet The Expert - Mitch Lane

What is your current role, and what are your main responsibilities?

I'm the Site Operations Manager in the operations team at Prolectric. I'm responsible for Prolectric's three satellite depots which allow us to provide quick, nationwide delivery across the UK. I also remotely track and monitor our rehire and customer assets using our Power & Lighting Portals, working to ensure they're all working at optimum levels and the maintenance programs are kept up to date. This means coordinating and working closely with our on-site field engineers, product development and production teams to relay customer feedback and the use of the kit on-site.

Tell us about your background and how you got started in your career?

I started my career self-employed and worked for eight years, completing general building and renovation projects on manor houses. I then took a ten-month trip to Australia, where I explored and worked on a banana farm and sold beauty creams and weight loss programmes. After returning to the UK, I heard that a Technician role was available at Prolectric and decided to make the move. Renewable energy is the present and future, so it seemed like a great option. I finally moved from Technician to Site Operations Manager over the four-year period I have been with Prolectric.

What are some of the most exciting projects you have worked on recently?

I really enjoyed setting up our Liverpool depot, which is now better placed to service our North West customers. We employed additional team members to facilitate business demand from our new location. We also brought in paperless documenting applications and software, helping us report all servicing, breakdowns, commission sheets and delivery notes, further contributing to our sustainable business efforts and simplifying the way we work.

What common misconceptions about your industry would you like to dispel?

'The amount of power generated from solar.' I don't think enough people realise how much power can be generated from solar panels. There are still too many sites using diesel-only generation sets and diesel tower lights. Why would you not use solar or hybrid versions that do the exact same job, whilst reducing your carbon footprint and saving huge amounts of money on diesel costs? Bonkers.