James Read joins Location One as COO
Operations & Our People
James Read joins Location One today in a newly created role as Chief Operations Officer (COO) to help step-change our processes and operating disciplines across all our branches to enable the business to operate more effectively and consistently across all its branches, delivering excellent service to our customers and more rewarding careers for our staff.
Location One is the largest supplier of location-based equipment and services to the UK film and TV production industry. Despite this, it is little more than a decade since its inception and, whilst it has expanded to four branches around the country, it remains a rapidly growing founder-led business. Having already brought in external private investors who bring significant financial acumen and strategic support, now is the time to really step-change Location One’s operating systems and disciplines to help underpin sustainable growth, better service to our customers and better training and support for our staff.
After an extensive search, we’re delighted to find such a high calibre candidate in James who has accepted the role of COO of Location One and the challenge to bring more structure and process to our operations, whilst retaining the flexibility and high service that our clients demand. James’ wealth of experience garnered around the world in manufacturing, supply chain and project management, complemented by a stint in the British Armed Forces as an engineer, give him the requisite balance of skills to embed structure and discipline in our processes whilst retaining agility to respond to unpredictable last-minute changes that filming outdoors so regularly throws at you.
Commenting on James’ recruitment Crispin Hardy, Founder, stated, “I am genuinely excited that James has decided to join us, not just because of his evident wealth of experience improving business operations in a number of companies, but because he intuitively so well appreciates the need to keep the agility in our business, help develop our people and how to work with business founders like Carly and me. He also has a real hunger to learn and develop which matches our ambitions to continue to strongly grow the business by delivering even better products and service to our customers.”.
James said “Having travelled extensively and lived and worked in Canada for the last decade, it was time to return home to the UK but also to find the next career challenge working in a smaller, dynamic business where I could make a difference and work with dynamic, ambitious business owners. I certainly feel I have found that in Location One and Crispin and Carly – the industry certainly is unpredictable and fast-paced, but I can already see what excellent service Location One delivers but with plenty of scope to improve the backbone of the operations to help strengthen the foundations for future growth. Exciting times lay ahead.”.
