What is your full name and job title?
Craig Kavanagh, Sales Director
How long have you had your current role?
Just over 4 years now, I joined ArrowXL in October 2019
Tell us a bit about your company.
It’s an amazing place to be, we are so lucky to have a fantastic culture and a great set of people throughout who care passionately about what they do. In the 2-person sector, delivery crew employment is quite rare. Drivers and mates are often the only personal contact consumers get within the shopping process, so I’m proud that our model at ArrowXL focus’s on employed delivery teams in modern branded fleet that provide a personal and market leading customer experience.
Name 3 key challenges and 3 opportunities your business is facing?
Challenges
- Lack of availability of 7.5 tonne drivers
- Cyber crime
- General economic outlook
Opportunities
- AI and what it can do for us
- The current carrier landscape
- New technologies and processes within our business
Tell us an anecdote that really sums up who you are as a leader.
I suppose I can be quite direct if I believe something isn’t right for the business, which is a trait that came to life whilst working for United Co-op. Challenging positively was part of the society’s values and principles and it’s stuck with me. If you are challenging for all the right reasons its clearly the right thing to do for your employer.
What is your philosophy for life and/or business?
Be a disruptor, understand how things operate and why we do certain things. Be nice to people and always ask lots of questions. Change is normally a good thing and there is always room for improvement in anything you do.
Who/what has been your greatest influence?
Working for a business that went into administration in my early 20’s, really makes you appreciate the value of understanding the key numbers within your business.
What do you find hard to do? And why?
Accept negativity, there is always a way to do whatever you need to do, it’s just sometimes more difficult than others.
Who do you most admire?
It has to be Margaret Thatcher.
If you didn’t work in logistics – what would you choose to do?
I’ve played the drums since the age of five so naturally this would have to be my ‘go to’ if logistics wasn’t such an interesting sector to be involved in.
