Rhino Doors is the UK’s leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance engineered doors, which serve to protect people and assets across the critical national infrastructure, defence, transport and energy industries. 

At the heart of this success has been a commitment to continual innovation and product development, fuelled by an experienced and dynamic team of engineers, management and leadership staff with a wealth of industry experience under their belts. 

In the latest edition of Spotlight on Rhino, we speak to Stuart Moss, Sales Manager for Major Projects, to find out about the nature of his role and some of the stand-out projects he’s worked on with Rhino Doors. 

First, we found out a little more about Stuart and his professional background. 

I have 30 years of engineering sales experience under my belt and have spent many years dealing with high integrity door and wall systems, similar to those that Rhino manufactures. 

Having previously worked alongside Rhino’s MD, Stuart Lawrence and Chief Engineer, Chris Norris, the door was held open for me to join the team, where I have been Sales Manager in charge of Major Projects for the past two years.  

What does your day-to-day role consist of?  

At Rhino Doors, I look after major and complex projects. On a daily basis, I review enquiries, liaise with the team to develop estimates, review doors and negotiate contracts, as well as making clarifications with clients on their projects and assisting Chris Norris with contract management as and when needed.  

What has been the most enjoyable project that you have worked on since joining the company two years ago? 

The most enjoyable project I have worked on so far has to be the Moorgate Northern Line fire doors for Transport for London and the London Underground. 

It’s an interesting one because not only do we design, engineer and supply the high integrity stainless steel fire doors that have been tested to specific standards, but the doors also need to be installed on a live station. This work will essentially be carried out during night shifts and engineering hours as it’s not a routine installation.  

The project itself is a big logistical burden as you need to have the right teams on site at the right time, and they must all have the correct qualifications to be working within the underground environment. 

On significant changes he’s seen during his time at Rhino, Stuart said… 

Rhino wants to be targeting more major and complex projects, but because of the way certain contracts are let – such as the NEC3 (now NEC4) – there is an administrative burden. But to outweigh this, Stuart Lawrence appointed a contracts manager to oversee this constraint and they will manage the applications for payments, requests for compensation if any projects change, and submit contractual documents, as required, every four weeks.  

Since joining, have you seen a change in the way Rhino approaches major projects? 

Rhino has definitely been increasingly targeting the major project market area more over the past two years and, as a team, they have been putting resources in place to drive this forward, including hiring myself and the new contracts manager.  

On COVID-19, Stuart explained… 

Whilst there has been some disruption to the way many of us at Rhino work, my job hasn’t been majorly impacted. I do usually work from a home office, so there was no change from that perspective. However, with everyone else who is normally office-based working from home, it definitely posed a challenge and was a learning curve when it came to working collaboratively online. 

So, what does the future hold for Rhino Doors? 

I believe that Rhino Doors will move towards larger and more demanding, technically complex projects where success depends on technical and commercial management and ability.  

There is certainly an emphasis within Rhino at the moment of moving towards major projects and gearing up the company to suit. 

Look out for the next article in our Spotlight on Team Rhino series, which will feature our Head of Security Projects, Ceri Couser.  

In the meantime, if you want to find out more about how Rhino Doors can help your project, contact us today!