Chris is clearly the father of Brightr, having had extensive experience all round and had a taste of cleaning, he felt that Brightr was what he needed to establish to fulfil his need for success. A bit of a visionary Chris is always looking for new ways of working and doing things to ensure we continue to grow and deliver what our customers need from us.
What’s your role here, and what does a typical day look like?
I’m the Managing Director. I worked for large corporates and a consultancy for 10 years after university. So I would say my strengths lie in a combination of big company processes whilst being realistic about what you can (or need to) achieve as an SME. I Think we hit a good mix. My day is a mix of strategic planning, problem-solving, and making sure everything runs smoothly. I remind myself and everybody else that we are a cleaning and facilities company and that’s what is important to our customers. It’s easy to forget that with all the noise around business these days.
What do you enjoy most about working here?
The managers in the office who are my friends. And a lot of the customers who I could say the same thing about- but I guess you would have to ask them.
What’s one project or accomplishment you’re especially proud of?
Our reputation
How would you describe the team culture in three words?
Responsive, honest, happy
What advice would you give someone starting in your role?
Smooth out and automate the back-end processes as much as you can. Then focus on service delivery. And try very hard to employ the best people. Most important.
What excites you most about the company’s future?
Well- so much. Increasing the scope of facilities service offering: it constantly expands, I was looking at drone window cleaning the other day. Also, the facilities market is consolidating and that creates a great opportunity for a family run SME.
What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?
It’s all about the music for me really! I was lucky with timing in that there were some great bands about in the 80’s and 90’s, many of which I saw live. These days you’re as likely to find me at the CBSO or the Proms but I’m always on the lookout for a new guitar band. We submit our annual top 5 on the family whatsapp group every Christmas and I try to stay relevant!
If you could have any superpower at work, what would it be?
Timetravel…I’d like to meet some historical characters. There are so many, but Shakespeare would be interesting to me. What on earth was he like?
What’s your favourite thing to do outside of work?
Time with my family. Reading and listening to music. I’ve played a lot of sport but it’s all creaking a bit now, so I love walking with my dog, Scout. He’s a lot fitter than me.
If you could travel anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?
Cornwall. It’s always a good idea
What was your very first job?
I was a warehouse porter in the school/uni holidays at a distribution centre in Hinkley. Pre automation, it was a good workout, put it that way
If you had to describe yourself in three emojis, which would you pick?
❤️🎸😂