Name: Christopher Barley
Job title: Product Manager (UK) – Residential Ceramics and Furniture
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’ve been married to my wonderful Canadian wife for just over five years, and we have a dog named Charlie. We both love travelling to experience beautiful sights, architecture, and different cultures. Some of our favourite places we’ve been are Bruges, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Marrakesh, Kenya, Tuscany, Budapest, Kerala, Bangkok, Cambodia (Siem Reap), Bali, Cuba (Havana), Rio and recently we went to Sri Lanka. For our next big adventure, we’d like to go to Madagascar. What would your favourite destination be?
Describe your job to a five-year-old
I find out what people want from a bathroom in the UK – including design, trends and technology – and I work out how many toilets and basins we can sell, at what price.
What do you like most about your job?
The wide variety of helpful people I get to interact with in my role.
How did you get here?
My background was initially in design. I have a degree in Museum and Exhibition Design. From university I worked at the Hull Daily Mail, setting and designing adverts. Then I worked for a year as a draughtsman, for a steel detailing company. I started at Ideal Standard in 2007 as a Projects Coordinator in Marketing Services working on exhibitions and showroom designs. Then I moved into Channel Marketing as a Marketing Executive for Residential & Hotels and I’ve been in my current role as Product Manager for just over 5 years.
What motivates you?
My family motivate me, travel and understanding how things work to find solutions that increases productivity.
If you could swap jobs with anyone, who would it be?
A travel vlogger like a modern-day Michael Palin.
Your favourite song lyric or line from a film
‘It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches, Only takes one match to burn thousand trees’ – A Thousand Trees, Stereophonics.
Your favourite app?
YouTube. It’s a rabbit hole…
Biggest facepalm moment at work?
In a previous job, rushing to get ready for work I grabbed the first suit jacket from the wardrobe. On this particular day I was presenting at a conference. The jacket that I had inadvertently grabbed was actually a dinner jacket with satin lapels.