Technical Sales Manager Tracey Murray joined the Donaldson Family as an admin assistant when she was 18 years old. Thirty-three years later her career has evolved and her daughter, Charlie, is enjoying her own career progression with us at our Donaldson Timber Engineering (DTE) Buckhaven site.

Inspired by her mum, Charlie started out in our admin team, then only a year later she became a Trainee Design Technician, “After finishing studying administration at college, I joined as an admin assistant and within a year I was an i-joist designer. I’ve been here almost two years now and enjoy being able to learn from so many knowledgeable and experienced people, including my mum” she explains.

There are already echoes of Tracey’s own career path in Charlie’s. “I started with the Donaldson Group when I was only eighteen mainly doing admin, moved on to estimating, did a bit of design and then started going out to see customers, onsite visits assisting with site sizes and such like, and I’m still here after thirty-three years!” says Tracey.

And it was the fact that there were real opportunities to develop and grow which prompted her to encourage Charlie to join her as part of the Donaldson Family, “the opportunities that could lie ahead for Charlie here were a big reason why I encouraged her to apply. There are so many different companies now within the Group there’s plenty of places to go and Donaldson Group are always very keen to provide the opportunity to grow and learn across the group, too” Tracey explains.

Charlie also appreciates that she can turn to her mum for advice and support – and that together they can explore ways to make things even better for our customers, “after designing a job before I send it off, I check in with my mum who is more often than not working on other parts of the same project and we can chat together and co-ordinate things like deliveries, which help make the customer experience better” she says.

Families supporting each other and other families is something that’s not just talked about here but is put into action every day in multiple ways. Whether it’s family members guiding and helping each other, or the Donaldson’s themselves championing family values and matters within the Group.

Having spent her entire working life within the Donaldson Group, Tracey’s seen a lot of changes over the years, but she says one thing remains unchanged, the feeling of being part of a family working together as one. “There’s been so much change, but one of the things that has remained is that feeling of family. When any member of the Donaldson family comes to the site, whether it be Mike or Andy, it’s just like any other day. We are all working together, sharing our knowledge and experience, to help build positive futures not just for my daughter, but for many generations to come” she says.