60 seconds with Josh Nichols

Josh is a strategic account manager at Brentwood Communications. He joined the company after successfully completing a three-year graduate scheme with a FTSE All Share company. He is a versatile team player who is well matched to the fast-paced environment offered in the communications sector.

How do you spend most of your time at work?

Generally you’ll find me beavering away behind an array of technical screens. My role includes sourcing, developing and maintaining a range of strategic relationships on behalf of Brentwood Communications. My workload is wildly varied on a day-to-day basis, but telephone calls, emails and online research take up large chunks of the day.

What’s the one gadget you can’t live without?

I’m a massive fan of my Plantronics cordless headset with an EHS cable to enable call answering at the touch of a button. No longer am I tied to my desk while on a call, and having both hands free makes it a hundred times easier to reference information on my PC.

Describe your most unforgettable project.

In 2017, following a gruelling six months of hard work, research and client communication, I secured the largest sales contract in Brentwood Communications’ long history. Certainly something I will not be forgetting in a hurry.

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve seen while working in the radio sector?

When I was working with the MOD Police on their VHF Maritime project, they needed to access the UK HM Coastguard’s Reserved Channel ‘0’ (156.0MHz). It was the first time I’d had to ask them for access to their channel so it was a pretty surreal experience. Thankfully they agreed!

What advice would you give to someone who’s starting their first job in the industry?

“Every day is a school day.” The communications sector is the perfect environment for those of us who’re passionate about learning new technologies. You need to be keen to develop yourself and constantly progress. It takes time to learn the best practices, but over time you’ll get the basics down and build up your own network of resources.

How has your role changed since you started working within the radio industry?

There’s been significant changes throughout my career journey. I started as a customer liaison, which gave me a brilliant foundation in the industry. I progressed rapidly into a sales role, ultimately to be promoted to the sales team manager. I steered the sales team to year-on-year growth before progressing to my current role. I thrive within the sales environment.

What do you do in your free time to relax?

I’ve got two children under the age of two so free time and relaxation sound great – where do I sign up? I’m a keen weekend footballer. Having played at a relatively decent club level for 25 years, I’m looking forward to playing Vets football in a few years’ time if my body holds out.