Growing the Northern Senior team
Operations & Our People
We’re delighted to welcome Emma Parish to Location One, joining us as Branch Manager in Manchester, working in close partnership with Dave Downing who will work closely with customers ‘in the field’ across the whole of our northern territories whilst also running the Newcastle branch.
This is an important step to further strengthen our operations, offering and processes in the northern regions of Great Britain. During COVID-disruption, Dave Downing truly lived our HEART values, showed impressive leadership and dedication to step into the breach and oversee operations and support staff and customers in Manchester as well as Newcastle. He didn’t miss a beat, always being there for customers.
We needed to get Dave back home but didn’t want to lose that close relationship between Dave and his customers so we’ve created a broader customer support role where Dave can run the Newcastle branch but be on the ground as required across the whole of the northern territories helping customers, delivering excellent and responsive service.
Emma joins us with a wealth of operations, customer and people management skills and prior experience in the events and production industry, having been a Facilities Manager for BBC North. Most recently, Emma worked for Thermatic Technical FM, a renewable energy systems installation, servicing and monitoring business, where as Operations Manager she oversaw systems, processes and people, before moving to the role of Key Account Manager in the last two years. The combination of Emma’s operations, process and customer management experience, plus an encyclopaedic memory – she’s a quiz champion! – make her an ideal recruit to really take our operations to the next level in the North whilst partnering with Dave to serve our valued customers really well and win new business.
Commenting on joining Location one Emma said, “From working in events at the start of my career to supporting the BBC operations, I’ve always loved the creative industries and understand the unique and last minute requests those customers demand. I also love a process and so am looking forward to working with Dave and the Manchester team, plus the broader Location One leadership, to build on past success and raise operational disciplines to another level.”.
Dave said “The last year through COVID has been challenging for businesses and people alike. Stepping in to run the larger Manchester branch whilst still overseeing Newcastle has been tough but incredibly rewarding and I feel proud to have enhanced my operating and business skills whilst also delivering for customers and Manchester staff whom I so highly value. It is time to spend more time back home in Newcastle, but I’m excited to be able to partner with Emma and to do what I love across the whole of the North, supporting customers on the ground.”.
James Read, COO, said “Crispin, Carly, John and I are incredibly thankful for Dave’s commitment to the Manchester branch, its staff and the broader business during lock-down and then the rapid re-build of trade. He is the embodiment of our HEART values. We’re so pleased, therefore, to create a broader customer role for Dave across the entire North region to continue to bring the best in customer service whilst also partnering with Emma who will bring renewed operational and process focus, together enabling the next leg of strong growth for the two northern branches.”.
