Mick Bennett is a quality and supply engineer with over 30 years’ experience in the automotive and white goods industries. He has worked within international supply chains and developed an expertise in working with suppliers in China.  In January 2020 he joined RootWave  – he says it was the best move he could have made.

“This is the best team I have worked in – the level of knowledge and expertise we have here is astounding. The support I have received within our operations team has been great. We are a small team with a good variety of experience, and we also get on with each other very well – the morale is fantastic.

I think the leadership team has done a great job on recruitment, because not only have we got the skills we need, but also everyone has the right attitude. In my role I come into contact with most people and everyone here is so nice. They approach each day with positivity and a can-do mindset.

I am proud of the work that my team and I have done since I have been here, it’s probably the best of my career. I joined shortly before the pandemic and lockdowns – many of the companies in the industries I came from were putting people on furlough or making people redundant, but we managed to keep the business going in a safe way.

There was a real challenge within supply chains, it was hard to source parts because some suppliers were shut – but we always found a way. Because of the nature of what we do, we have to have things ready for the spring, when weeds are growing and we were successful in doing that – its something I take a lot of pride from.

Our Volta machine for top fruit is a very exciting project. It has been a great challenge for me working with new suppliers to find bespoke and off-the-shelf parts for our high frequency technology. This season we will be working with contract manufacturers to bring the product to market, which is another good challenge. It’s one we have been successful with for RootWave Pro. Getting the detail right and building a relationship with the supplier is key and I am looking forward to it.

I love working here, the variety within my working week is great. One minute I’m ordering carboard boxes, the next it’s bespoke parts for a high frequency electronics system. When you add that to the exciting products and the supportive team – it means I don’t mind putting extra hours in during the times it is needed. I believe in this company, they have believed in, and supported me – it motivates me to go above and beyond, because I enjoy my work.”

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To view our current vacancies visit our careers page

Best Companies has rated RootWave as the 13^th best company to work for in UK construction and engineering.

The Warwickshire-based electrical weed control pioneers released their award-winning hand-weeder RootWave Pro in 2017. Following a period of growth, tractor-mounted systems for chemical-free weed control in fruit and row crops produced excellent results in independent trials this summer.

RootWave has a diverse and growing team. It has also improved its rating with Best Companies this year – moving into the top 100 companies to work for in the West Midlands.

Laura Wrench, Head of People said:

“We are building a team that has the tenacity to solve global challenges. We have an incredibly talented and diverse workforce that is passionate about what we do and what we deliver.

“We believe that we can change the world, and to do that we will need to create an environment and culture that inspires. That is why we benchmark ourselves with Best Companies each year and strive to improve our ranking.”

Best Companies is an independent employee engagement accreditation service that uses an annual staff survey to provide an employee led ranking for UK businesses. In 2022, they found that a majority of RootWave team members felt cared for, that they had the chance to grow and enjoyed their job – contributing to an overall rating of “Good to work for” and “One to watch”.

RootWave is continuing to grow its team, see the latest vacancies here, or visit our LinkedIn Life page to learn more.

Chisom Akujobi is a Power Electronics Engineer. Originally from Nigeria, she completed her MSc in Electrical Power Engineering at Newcastle University. After building over five years’ experience within the UK power electronics industry she joined RootWave in November 2021.

“I am proud to work for RootWave. Recently, I started working towards becoming a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). I have won the first round of the IET “Present in 10” competition under the sustainability and climate change category, which was an opportunity to champion my work with RootWave to other engineers. I was proud to talk about electrical weed control as a sustainable solution.

Sustainability and the chance to make a difference to the world was one of the things that first attracted me to the role here. I was also very interested in working with high frequency electricity. The fact that it is a spectrum of electricity that can be used to build safer products is appealing. I felt it would be good for my career development to work in that field.

Even from before my first day of work for RootWave I noticed there was a sense of family here. I was returning to work after maternity leave, and I was given good advice and great support on how best to get back into things.

Now, I am supported with a hybrid structure and a really collaborative working environment. We are building new products, so I love coming into the office to meet with project teams and catch-up on the progress others are making – but I can split that with some time working from home. This is helpful if I need to pick up my son from nursery, or simply need quiet time to focus on my work.

I feel comfortable at RootWave, there is a great collaborative atmosphere, so I can always do my best work. I think the multicultural nature of our team really helps with that. We have a wide range of personalities within the business, and we gel very well together. Everyone brings different ideas to the table and we collaborate to get the best solutions.

Of course with the nature of what we are building, we are working to deadlines. New prototype products will need to be in the field at certain times of the year – but I never feel like I am being put under pressure, everyone works together because we all want to achieve the same goal. I feel comfortable that I am being trusted to deliver, and trusted to manage my own time. I will come into the office when I need to work with others on something, but I can also get things done at home.

I have had fantastic encouragement from my manager, particularly with working towards becoming a chartered engineer. He was keen to put me forward, and he has been flexible with my tasks, so that I can use and develop different skill sets. Ultimately this will benefit the business too, as I am growing as an engineer and will bring more to the table. Another element of working for RootWave that has helped me grow is being part of the full cycle of product development. I can be working with other teams, discussing how a power board that I am designing will fit into the finished product – then later I will be involved in testing, collecting and analysing data. This is a chance to gain feedback on my work in real time, and I can take that back into my designs. It is really exciting and really satisfying.”

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To view our current vacancies visit our careers page