“My advice is your journey is only just starting with a long career ahead for us all. Every day is a school day learn everything you can off everyone around you. Looking back, I feel I joined a really unique place at AP Racing. Add hard work to that and you will go a long way.”
Thomas will have been at AP Racing for more than seven years and he’s already experienced a lot during that time.
Thomas points to his family as the initial inspiration for him wanting to join the engineering industry, highlighting their positive experiences as being crucial to his own career path. Whether with cars or motorbikes, engineering has been something that been a part of his life for as long as he can remember.
Thomas joined AP Racing's team as an External Logistics Planner in November 2016. This role saw him create schedules, buy and secure parts and meet suppliers. When reflecting on his first role with AP Racing, Thomas speaks highly of his colleagues for helping him to settle into the team and quickly acquire the knowledge needed for the role.
After a year with the company, Thomas moved into a new role in Internal Logistics, where he was responsible for planning builds going through the business. It was here that the Head of Operations recognised his potential and supported his further development throughout this period.
In January 2019, a move to another part of the business offered him a unique opportunity to use more of his degree, taking on the role of a Technical Sales Engineer. The role saw Thomas become an key account manager for some of AP Racing’s major clients and quickly became a role that he enjoyed.
Thomas openly admits that he is an ambitious man and wants to keep moving forward, progressing where possible. He highlights a significant career landmark as when he began reporting directly into the Head of Commercial. It was a result of this close work and experience, that Thomas was appointed to his current role of Project Manager in July 2022.
07
Years at AP Racing
Thomas said: ““One of the things I am most proud about was being involved in the GEN 7 NASCAR project. It was one of the largest ever race projects that AP Racing have been involved with and it was a really challenging, exciting project to be involved in. It helped my learning and development and has played a big part in my future career aspirations within AP Racing.”
“I find the role of Project Manager within AP Racing an exciting opportunity. I am involved with all the parts of the AP Racing business and this calls on me to use my well-earned experience. The projects which I am involved encompass many large OEM customers that are also leaders in respected areas. When I look back on the start of my AP Racing career they were the customers I aspire to be working with. I feel that I have earnt the chance to be working with these customers and through AP Racing’s willingness to recognise talent, I will continue to help AP Racing be at the front of their minds when choosing the suppliers for their performance components.”