Harvest Energy’s Stuart Riding
Stuart Riding prides himself on never having lost a dealer site since he joined Harvest Energy in January 2023. Maybe it is because he is always accessible, with his phone “glued” to his hand, perhaps it is a result of being mentored by MFG’s Jim Mulheran, or could the reason be that he is an aspiring sumo wrestler!
Name: Stuart Riding
Job title: Head of dealer sales
Harvest Energy, which is part of the Prax Group, owns and operates a large number of fuel stations within the UK. Stuart Riding works within the dealer network, supplying both Harvest Energy-branded forecourts, and TotalEnergies sites. Harvest Energy signed a Fuel Network Agreement with TotalEnergies in 2019, so it is licensed to retail under the TotalEnergies brand in the UK.
The Prax Group operates Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery in north Lincolnshire, a nationwide network of oil storage terminals, and an in-house logistics division, Axis Logistics. Most recently, it acquired OIL!, the Hamburg-based petrol retail business, expanding its overall fuel retail portfolio to approximately 540 sites in Europe.
01. Career history: From July 2016 to December 2021, I was working for MFG under the Murco brand. From January to December 2022, I was with Shell as a territory manager, and I have been in my current role since January 2023.
02. Dream job: Sounds sad, but I am probably doing it.If not, I would be a sumo wrestler! I actually think I would be quite good.
03. What do you drive? An Audi Q5.
04. Perfect day: Signing up a new site, followed by chips on the seafront and an evening with my girls.
05. Best holiday: We went to Lapland last Christmas. I thought it would be a holiday where I had to survive, but it was amazing.
06. Holiday wish-list: I love a stag do, so anywhere with some good pubs surrounded by friends.
07. Favourite read: I have two young girls, so at the moment it’s Detective Dog Nell by Julia Donaldson – the same author who wrote The Gruffalo.
08. Three words to describe yourself: Honest, hardworking… and loud.
09: Possession you could not do without: My phone. It’s literally glued to my hand.
10. What do you most admire? People who are honest. Anything else is a bonus.
11. Favourite sports person: As a rugby boy, I should be saying Jonny Wilkinson, but I am also a huge Liverpool football fan, so Steven Gerrard.
12. Best news over the past 12 months: One of my colleagues, who is a Leeds fan, recently moved to Germany, so I no longer have to listen to how poorly Leeds are doing every day. But on a more serious note, there is no better feeling than getting a new site on board after months of hard work.
13. Recent achievements: My eldest has recently started karate and she is loving it, recently achieving red belt. The youngest is attending a performing arts class and smashing everything in front of her.
14. What’s your pet peeve: People who dodge buying a beer when you are in a round.
15. Biggest fear: I am not good with heights, so I am going to say theme parks.
16. Most important qualities in the workplace: Being hard working and honest. All the rest can be learnt.
17. What motivates you? My girls. Phoebe is aged seven and Bella is four years old. Everything I do is so hopefully I can be a good role model for them and give them all the experiences they need to succeed in life.
18. Best thing about the job: I get the freedom to drive the business forward in the right direction, in line with our company vision. I am held accountable, which I love, but essentially, I am working hard to take the Harvest Energy dealership business to the next level, so that we are seen as a first choice by both dealers and shoppers alike.
19. Best bit of business advice you have ever received: I have had plenty of advice. I worked for Jim Mulheran for six years when I was at MFG. It was like doing an apprenticeship and he was extremely hard on me, but it was such a brilliant experience and I learnt so much from him. Safe to say, I wouldn’t be the person I am today if he had not guided me through some tough situations.
20. Most recent business achievement of note: Re-signing one of our major customer accounts. It’s always nice to win new business, but if your customers are staying with you then it shows you are doing something right. This is reinforced by the fact we haven’t lost a site since I started.
