OATS' Sebastian Crawshaw is celebrating a milestone year for both himself and the business as he marks his 20th year as Chairman of the company, while the business itself marks its 30th Anniversary.
Sebastian Crawshaw - a 20 year Milestone Image: OATS |
Crawshaw took over lubricant data solutions provider OATS when the founders were looking to retire in 1993. OATS was then providing a paper-based service to the UK lubricant industry. He quickly realised that the business needed to expand beyond the UK and set out to create a global operation and worldwide recognition of the now-ubiquitous green logo.
Since 1994 the lubricants industry has changed dramatically, driven by key events including The Kyoto Protocol, asset swaps, mergers and acquisitions between major oil companies and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs globalisation and the explosion of the World Wide Web.
As pioneers in internet marketing, OATS introduced the world’s first online lubricants recommendation website in 1998. It was these sites that were instrumental in leading the digital transformation of lubricants marketing.
According to Crawshaw: “The past two decades have flown by and I am sure the next decade will bring more of the same, as well as some unpredictable changes. By 2020 any new cars being produced will require close-to-complete recyclability of materials. The management of water on a global basis may become the next big challenge. At OATS we continue to innovate and lead in responding to these changes and I am looking forward to the launch of our latest innovation EARL FUSION over the coming months.”