10 QUESTIONS
10 QUESTIONS WITH... ALASTAIR LITTLE
Each month we ask an industry professional the Tomorrow’s FM 10 Questions.
This month, we chatted to Alastair Little, Head of FM, Healthcare & Public Sector Corporate Accounts at Biffa.
Q1
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
My first job was in London working for Pringle sportswear as a marketing assistant.
It sounds as exciting as it actually was! Part of the job was walking around all the other major branded shops looking at what they were selling in their stores - this included looking at different items of clothing and noting what they were made of and the price.
Q2
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY?
My route to working with the FM industry has been a long one. I’ve worked in the waste industry for 20 years now dealing mainly with retail clients, such as Tesco and M&S, and along the way I have also worked with some of the big FM companies including Mitie, Carillion, Monteray, Aramark and Serco, but I’ve never specialised.
I re-joined Biffa last August and now head up the FM Sector within our Corporate accounts division.
Q3 Q4
WHO, IN ANY OTHER INDUSTRY, DO YOU
MOST ADMIRE?
Dave Brailsford (Team Sky Cycling Coach) I really like his approach on being better than the competition through the amalgamation of marginal gains.
IF MONEY WAS NO OBJECT, WHAT CAR
WOULD YOU BUY?
The ultimate boys toy for Yorkshire, which is where I live, a Land Rover Defender, with everything on it.
64 | TOMORROW’S FM Q5
HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE THE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY?
My views on this and question nine are from the perspective of a supplier, so, what I would change would be that for any change/ bid/developments, suppliers are engaged early, in order to be the most effective they can possibly be.
Q6
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE
GROWING UP?
I wanted to be a jet fighter pilot, but being a Rugby player build I was never going to fit into the cockpit (well I wouldn’t be able to get out in a hurry when needed).
Q7 Q8
WHAT DO YOU DO TO UNWIND?
I cycle about 100 miles per week around the Yorkshire Dales. If I’m not doing this I’m spending time with my family.
IF YOU COULD HOST A DINNER PARTY WITH
ANY THREE GUESTS, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD THEY BE AND WHY? James Hetfield (Metallica Singer)
he’s been through some interesting times. Dr Steve Peters (author of The Chimp Paradox) I’d like him to tell me more about my ‘inner chimp’ and either Oliver Reed or Keith Moon – they’d be good value as long as I didn’t pick up the bill.
Q9
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE FUTURE OF THE
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY?
I’d like to see the FM industry being about a supplier-led and supplier- shaped industry, to ensure all products and services can work in the most effective way together.
I believe that a Total FM company can look and be most effective if it gets its suppliers to create an offering that is based on getting the most out of each other’s products.
For example in our area, if we engage with food suppliers and monitor the amounts that are provided and ensure they come in the right packaging, we can avoid food wastage (and increased cost) and we can also look to gain additional value from the packaging.
Q10
LEE PRICE, SALES DIRECTOR AT CFS
ASKS: IF YOU COULD BE ANYONE IN HISTORY WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
I think I would be Thomas Midgley Jr (American mechanical engineer and chemist). I would be him and at an early age I would decide to become something other than an inventor. He invented Leaded Petrol and CFCs (so not a good CV!).
www.Biffa.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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