Profile: Matthew Hickin
Matthew’s having a gas Matthew Hickin’s career has taken him all over the world but now he’s back in Warwickshire as the chief executive of one of the most recognised UK brands. Anyone who has ever been camping will know the name of Calor Gas and Hickin, who was born in Redditch and attended Studley High School and later King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford, is no different. But it was only once he got to know the business rather than the brand that he decided to make a return to home soil after nearly a quarter of a century overseas. “I heard about the opportunity with Calor while we were in the Netherlands,” he said. “I knew the brand but didn’t know much about the business but found out some things about the company and the fact that it was here in Warwick was unexpected. “I knew the brand from when I was a young lad in shorts! Pardon the pun, but there is a warm feeling about it. “During the recruitment process I had time to investigate and speak to people
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about the business and what I saw was a breadth and depth of activity at Calor that was very interesting. “I was also very enthusiastic about the people we have working within the business and that’s remained the case since I joined.”
“It was work that took me overseas,” he added. “When I was studying I wanted to travel but rather than getting the travel itch and wanting to take a year out, I wanted to work and live in a country to experience more of the culture and to get to know the people.
There was no particular burning desire to return to the UK. Hickin opted for an overseas career as a lifestyle choice after leaving university but rather than a ‘year out’ to see the world, he wanted to embed himself in a country and its culture.
“I was very lucky, as a graphic designer my wife was able to work freelance so it was relatively easy for her to move compared with people in other professions.
“I found an employer, which used to be part of ICI, that had operations internationally and I made it known that I would be interested in a post abroad,” he said. “After three years working in Slough, they offered me a role in Germany. “That began 24 years of an international career. We were in Germany for about nine years – we had our children there – then we moved to the Netherlands, not the nice bits around Amsterdam but we moved to the less exclusive areas on the border with Germany. “Then we moved to Warsaw and, after that, back to Germany, then to China, then to Amsterdam and then eventually back here three years ago.”
“There was no real intention to move back to the UK. We were quite happy moving on somewhere else internationally and then the position came up here.” He was sales and marketing director with Calor Gas for two years before stepping up to the role of CEO in April 2017. “It was quite odd to come back to the Midlands,” he said. “My wife has been saying that my accent is returning more since we got back!
“We need more investment in the roads, the railways and in the airways. Transportation in the region is a big issue. Living in the Netherlands at two different times, I saw how the Dutch government made a point of continually investing in infrastructure.”
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