Why have you been at Arnold Clark for 10 years?I started part time when I was at university. Then, I decided to buy a house the minute I turned 18 and realised I needed a bit more money. I supported myself through uni and decided to stay on with Arnold Clark because I liked the people and the atmosphere and I could see that there was plenty of room for me to develop.
What was your first job in the automotive industry? At the time, I did a bit of everything. The warehousing side of things, goods in, goods out, quality control, driving – I was a van coordinator for a while as well, overseeing 25 drivers. I also worked in the office dealing with Ford customers over the phone.
What does your current role involve?I’ve been working towards building a new training platform for all Parts staff, where I really want them to continue training, not because they have to but because they want to; knowing that they can better themselves. There’s nothing worse than being on a course and you just sit there falling asleep waiting to leave and the highlight of it is getting your lunch! I don’t want it to be like that for my team. Essentially, it’s writing and delivering training courses. Creating new materials. Getting out and about, talking to people, seeing what they’re doing, what they need, and what the business needs are and making it all go hand in hand.
What are the most challenging aspects of your job?Being patient, to be honest. That’s not just in the current role, but me in general. I like to get stuck into everything that I do and do it well. Understanding that other people and processes might not move at the speed that I’d like but I know in the end we get there, one way or another. To a degree that’s probably been part of my earlier days when I first became a Parts manager and managing my own frustrations, so definitely one of my earlier challenges as well.
Would you recommend working at Arnold Clark to others?Yes, naturally. Once you realise the width, depth and scale of the company, then you’ve got a career for life, doing whatever you want to do. A lot of people don’t know the truth about the motor trade. They think it’s a dirty, male-orientated, hands-on environment, whereas in actual fact it’s very business orientated, very financial and a lot of IT skills are needed. It also involves a lot of customer-facing work. If there was better awareness of it, a lot more people will realise there’s a great career to be had.