Steve Freeman

Motorhome Valeter

After nearly a year as a part-time valeter, Steve has now become a full-time member of the Southdowns' valeting team

Q. What attracted you to work for Southdowns?
I had been doing part-time work since I left school, including working in a local fish and chip shop but I was really looking for a full-time job and so managed to work my way up to full-time valeter earlier this year. My father, Rod Freeman works in the sales office at Southdowns and likes it here, so I was quite interested in working for the company too, although he insisted that I had to apply for the job and prove I could do it without him putting in a good word for me!

Q What are your key responsibilities?
I work as part of the Southdowns valeting team alongside Mark Dalton, Brent Wilkinson, Chris Goodright and Mandi Smith. I am mainly responsible for cleaning the interiors of the motorhomes with Mandi but if we are really busy and need to get a vehicle ready to handover to a customer, I will just help do whatever's needed. The 'sold' motorhomes take priority and once we have made them customer-ready, we work our way round the other vans on the forecourt.

Q What is the best thing about working for the company?
I really like working as part of a team and get a lot of satisfaction out of taking a motorhome that looks a bit dingy and making it look really good inside. I'm pleased when customers comment on how good the motorhome interiors look - there is a lot of job satisfaction in that. I also like the fact that I'm learning from the more experienced valeters. Having gone full-time, I feel as if I'm working my way up and would be really interested in eventually applying for a job in the workshop.

Q. Do you have a personal interest in motorhomes?
The motorhomes are quite impressive but I'm a bit young to be interested in them as a holiday option. My ideal holiday would be to spend time on a tropical island but have to build a shelter and fend for myself - I like a bit of adventure.

Q. What do you do when you're not at work?
When I'm not at work I go to the gym and play tennis. I also really like paintballing and go-karting and recently spent a great weekend shelter-building in the New Forest with friends.

Steve lives at home in Portsmouth with his dad Rod and mum Barbara