From sourcing building materials to distributing them to the construction site — you name it, Neil Holford has done it.

For Mr. Holford, who is the warehouse manager at Greymane Contracting, runs everything in the supply management chain from buying stock and managing the inventory to fleet management and even goods distribution.

In the meanwhile, he is also at the forefront of selling the company's products to other contractors in the building sector.

Mr. Holford, who has been in the supply chain industry for the past 13 years, started as a driver for a supply company in Barbados before being promoted to customer service and eventually becoming a customer service supervisor and then going into the operations side of the business.

He moved to Bermuda and joined Greymane nine months ago and has never looked back since.

"My official title is warehouse manager, but in most parts of the world what I do is basically known as supply chain management," he said.

"I am involved in the inventory, purchasing, fleet management and distribution of goods.

"The special thing here is that we are also a retail entity, so we sell products to other contractors as well.

"The operational value that I get from my past experience has come into play here because we handle a lot of inventory.

"My basic job is to coordinate shipments from overseas here for our projects and stocking purposes for retail."

Mr. Holford's day begins at 7 a.m. when he coordinates the delivery of the materials to the six construction sites the company is currently working on across the Island and then makes a valuation and analysis of the amount and cost of goods needed from the various suppliers.

Typically the dry wall products required for a project can range from cement, lumber, metal studs and track, compounds and any other material used in building a development, according to Mr. Holford.

"Some days we have three large trucks and the guys driving them can do probably about six or seven runs per truck," he said.

"I need to coordinate this with fuel prices in mind to find the best possible routes for each driver to take to make the operation more efficient."

Then it is on to overseeing the smooth operation of the fleet of trucks for Mr. Holford, including the maintenance of the trucks, heavy equipment and tools.

His day finishes at 5.30 p.m. once the whole process of transporting the materials from overseas to Bermuda and onto the site is completed, the stock has been checked and the inventory ticked off, making sure that what is physically in the warehouse matches up with what is on the company's system.

Despite coming from a tropical island in the Caribbean, Mr. Holford finds life quite different in Bermuda compared to his home in Barbados.

"The working environment is not as fast paced as back home, but it is a joy to work here because the people are so friendly," he said.

Mr. Holford, who lives on Boaz Island in Sandys Parish with his wife, who is a teacher at the Berkeley Institute, said one of the biggest changes he has seen during his time at the company has been putting in place a number of new systems for a warehouse which has been in operation for the past 15 years.

One of his greatest challenges has been dealing with the volume of work that comes in at the same time as contending with the current global economic crisis.

"There are not enough hours in the day," he admitted.

"There is so much to be done here and so little time to do it, so managing it is the most important factor.

"In terms of the industry, I would say obviously the whole world economic situation, including fuel surcharges, is a major issue.

"Most suppliers see Bermuda as a place where if you cannot get the product from anywhere else they will charge you what they want and you will pay for it.

"But I am accustomed to it because in Barbados the first price offered is never accepted and everything is negotiated — it takes me about a week or two to close a material deal after it goes back and forth a few times."

Among his biggest achievements at Greymane are getting the warehouse up and running smoothly, while Mr. Holford cites his team of five warehouse workers, including a supervisor, as one of the main parts of his job satisfaction.

And in the future he envisages some key changes to the material and retail part of the business, with the sector as whole undergoing a shift from general developers carrying out building projects to specialist contractors filling the niche components of the developments.

Outside of work, Mr. Holford has been learning salsa at classes with his wife, culminating with them performing a show this summer, with turning out for Valley FC in the Commercial League and studying for a Master's degree in Supply Chain Management occupying the rest of his spare time.

For the meanwhile, he is never happier than when back in his warehouse running a tight ship and keeping his house in order.

"I find Greymane basically has the same mentality — it is a very professional outfit and we all get along well and have the same vision as each other," he said.