VADnet Hero: Lewis Harvey, Adey Electronics, UK
Members are the driving force behind the biggest PAN European cooperation of Value Added Distributors in the IoT industry. That’s why we call them ‘VADnet Heroes’.
In the bustling world of Industrial IoT, we would like you to introduce a true VADnet Hero—Lewis Harvey, Associate Director at Adey Electronics. But who is the man behind the routers, antennas and surprising sporting achievements? Let’s plug in and find out.
Rebooting Beginnings
Lewis’s business story began in 2010 when he was installing B+B Electronics products as part of Adey Systems, a family run software company led by Michaela and Russ Adey, when they were approached to start distributing cellular routers and connectivity products. Michaela, Russ and Lewis launched Adey Electronics in 2011 and although Russ left to pursue another venture a few years later, Lewis, Michaela and the team, built up the company and turned it into a Value Added Distributor for IoT solutions, specializing in cellular, wireless and LoRa applications. Over the years, Adey Electronics has evolved, adding new (managed) services while maintaining a small but mighty team and working with strategic subcontractors when necessary. It makes Adey Electronics an agile team, ready for any future challenges to come.
VADnet: The Network That Connects More Than Devices
Lewis and Adey Electronics joined VADnet in 2018, and let’s just say it’s been more than a strong connection—it’s been a full-blown network upgrade. From project collaboration, information sharing to supplier expansion, VADnet has provided him not just those tools, but also long-term friendships. Each time he is looking forward to the semi-annual meetings, although the next one in April, being in Liverpool/UK, gives him a little bit more headache as being the host!
His favorite VADnet meeting? Alicante 2022. After being trapped in a virtual world of Zoom calls due to Covid, getting back to in-person meetings felt like coming home again!
Off the Grid (Sort of)
When he’s not fine-tuning IoT systems, Lewis enjoys spending time with his wife (married since 2019) and their two children. He’s also a more than great athlete and hard to beat when competing. With a focus on endurance sports, like marathons (recently London in less then 3 ½ hours and look how fesh he still is!), ultras, and triathlons. But also watching sports in general – he loves the Olympics Game and spends hours behind the TV-screen. And, as a retired football magician, you’d better not interrupt him when Liverpool FC is playing.
His Jamaican background comes back in his favourite dishes and music. You make him happy with Jamaican Curried Mutton, but also Chicken Tawa and if accompanied with Bob Marley’s reggae tunes, Lewis will have a great evening. Although ‘Spotify Wrapped’ also tells him that other music influences have caught him, like Beres Hammond, Oasis, Michael Kiwanuka and Sam Fender. He is not sure what to drink with his meals, as he switches between San Miguel beer and his red wine.
Life’s Mainframe
Lewis has been inspired a lot by a book which he can recommend to anybody, check out “The Chimp Paradox’” from Dr. Steve Peters. A book which will explain you a lot about ‘managing your mind’ and which could be a guide to have a successful and happy life. . Possibly that’s why Lewis’s motto in life is: “Don’t take it too seriously. Enjoy what you have and who you have around you.” It’s no wonder he’s such a hit at VADnet meetings—his calmness and relaxing attitude is highly appreciated by all his VADnet friends.
You can wake up Lewis for…. a cup of coffee, although he has cut down from 5-6 per day to only 2! And if he were European President for a day? He’d pull the plug on social media for kids and promote real-world socializing. More hikes, fewer TikToks—Lewis for President, anyone?
Final words
So there you have it—Lewis Harvey, the man who keeps life balanced. Whether he’s running marathons, selling IoT, debugging systems, spending time with his family and debating chicken curry versus curried mutton, he’s a VADnet hero through and through.
