One month in, and Sara has already filled an entire notebook.

Since joining Lambson Innovate as Operations Director, Sara has been on a mission – meeting every member of the team, from the shop floor to the office, listening, learning, and scribbling down everything she hears. And there’s been a lot to hear.

“Everyone has so much knowledge to share,” says Sara. The team at Lambson Innovate is packed with expertise, and Sara’s job is to take all of that insight and put it to work – identifying ways to tighten up processes, smooth out pain points, and clear the bottlenecks that slow things down.

Sara is, by her own admission, a natural problem solver, so we knew she’d be the perfect candidate for a role in Operations.

28 Years of Operational Excellence

Sara brings nearly three decades of experience to Lambson Innovate, the bulk of it spent at International Decorative Surfaces (part of the Saint-Gobain group). She started as a distribution trade counter operator and worked her way up to Operations Director for the North – a role that saw her managing multiple sites, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, trade counters, and sales offices across the region.

Her crowning achievement was building a distribution and manufacturing plant from the ground up. Taking it from a concept to a fully operational facility.

Sara was awarded the company’s Leadership Award twice for her efforts – an accolade voted for by everyone across the business.

After leaving in 2022, Sara moved into a director role in commercial property services, where she applied her operational expertise to comprehensive re-fits – another environment where logistics, coordination, and problem-solving are everything.

A Fresh Pair of Eyes

While much of Sara’s experience transfers directly to Lambson Innovate, our production facility is new territory. Sara is still getting to grips with the specifics of the operation – and yes, she did get lost on site once. (We’ve all been there.)

Her willingness to learn rather than assume is exactly why she’s been so thorough in her first two weeks. Rather than arriving with a predetermined plan, she’s taken the time to understand the business from the inside out; collecting perspectives from every corner of the team before drawing any conclusions.

What’s Next

Sara will be working closely with Russell, Lambson Innovate’s Production Manager, as she moves from the listening phase into action. With her track record of building efficient operations and her clear focus on practical improvements, the team is in strong hands. Sara is really looking forward to making a difference to the service we provide to our customers, and we’re looking forward to seeing her progress.

Welcome aboard, Sara.