Meet the VMC team
Nick Bate
Managing Director
Nick has been steering the VMC ship for many years, before that he was Operations Director. Nick’s background is in electronic coin handling systems for the vending and amusement industry.
Nick is hands-on and is as happy presenting in a sales meeting, as he is retrofitting vending machines. He is passionate about doing the best possible job, attention to detail and ensuring our customers are happy throughout the life of a contract.
His enthusiasm is infectious for all things techie, which ranges from the very latest IoT devices right through to oily nuts n’ bolts in Land Rovers. Nick admits this probably started at the age of five or six, before computers and IT, when he found an old crystal set radio his father had built as a child in the attic.
When he’s not at the VMC helm he is probably tinkering with tech, cooking or catching up on the latest movie releases.
Jill Bode
Operations Director
Jill has been at VMC since 2002 and spends most of her time ensuring that things run smoothly within the operations team and our manufacturing facility, making sure our customers are happy with the equipment and service we provide.
During her time here Jill has overseen our installations into over 1500 Asda and Tesco stores across the UK, whilst also project managing many of our major business contracts – she also knows her stuff when it comes to our equipment too.
Jill has a degree in Business Administration & Environmental Management, and having worked in contract catering whilst at Uni, she understands the challenges facing our clients today.
When Jill isn’t helping clients, she is busy “project managing” her 2 boys, 1 dog, several chickens, and cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
John Cotterill
Engineering Director
John has been at the heart of VMC’s software mission; analysing, specifying, designing and coding for over 20 years, from the early days of a VMC installation being managed on a single PC, to the cloud architectures and multiple system integrations of today.
Working closely with the CTO and a small team of software experts, he is focused on continuously improving VMC’s software and meeting the varied needs and development challenges of its diverse clients.
Joining the VMC Board of Directors in 2024, John now combines his software expertise and oversight with a wider view and strategic contribution to VMC’s future success.
Outside of work John is a part-time professional musician, a full-time father of three, and an occasional amateur cricketer, cyclist and wielder of a table tennis bat.
Jamie Sadler
Chief Technology Officer
Jamie has been part of the VMC team since 1998, starting as a field service technician, then moving onto software and systems engineering and finally taking on the key role of CTO. Prior to that he worked as a test technician for GEC Sensors and at Sega as a workshop technician, so has always been tinkering with machines.
Jamie has a BEng in Computer Systems Engineering from Warwick University and his experience really is at the heart of our design and development operation. Innovation has become part of his routine here, always working hard to streamline our existing systems, find solutions to problems and come up with the next big thing all at the same time.
To relax he enjoys running, swimming and video games, and occasionally likes to take his mind to a galaxy far far away watching Star Wars!