When Mark and Helen co-founded Hydraulics Online in 2004, Mark was the ‘hydraulics’ and Helen was the ‘everything else’.
Today, as our operations director, Helen is the vision and drive behind the growth of the Hydraulics Online brand; taking the business from a blank sheet of paper to the award-winning, global provider that we are today with customers in 130 countries worldwide.
In June 2024, Helen was awarded an MBE in The King’s Birthday Honours List for services to Business and to Exports.
But Helen’s leadership style isn’t blinkered; she is always keen to listen and welcomes fresh ideas. “I know I don’t have all the answers,” says Helen, “as the business grows, I grow with it.”
Making every day count…
Helen loves making things happen and making every day count. She is naturally restless, but that’s hardly surprising given that she juggles the work-life balance with being a ‘mum’ to seven and leads on our educational and wider community work too.
Paying it forward and “doing her bit” for charity really matter to Helen as well; she’s the first to roll her sleeves up (or get muddy) for a good cause and loves working with students and other businesses locally to inspire the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs.
Helen’s favourite quote:
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Learn more about Helen
Honoured by His Majesty The King
Helen is Announced as a Northern Power Woman
Strategic Collaboration with the University of Leeds
Hydraulics Online Founder wins Institute of Directors Award
Inspirational Leadership: An Interview with Co-founder Helen Tonks
Hydraulics Online’s Helen Tonks wins Female Entrepreneur of the Year
Exporting Insights at the International Business Festival 2018
