Stores Assistant Manager, Steven Pyper, joined Allied Vehicles almost ten years ago, after spending nearly the same amount of time at B&Q. We caught up with him for a chat about how he started out picking kits for the Production lines before working his up to his current position, and we picked his brains about his favourite movies from his very extensive collection…
What does your typical day look like at Allied?
Making sure everybody in the team knows what they’re doing, there’s no issues with parts going out to Production, no time lost out there through anything we can control, checking that the kits are correct and just making sure Production have everything they need to build the vehicles. Implementing new products into build, a big focus currently in the department is getting the MAXiCab up and running smoothly. Locating the parts in stores and helping the production line get set up.
Explain the difference between Stores and Parts.
Parts is customer based, we are a Production store. So, Production’s our customer, basically, and every vehicle has its own unique work order to the customer’s specifications that we’ll pick the components for and deliver that out to the line.
And Parts, if they need something that they don’t stock, but it’s from one of our builds, they’ll then come to us to provide that for them.
How long have you worked for Allied now?
It’ll be ten years in August. I was at B&Q before that, for nine years. I was being pushed to become a manager, but what I’d done before was warehousing and shop fitting and they were trying to move me into a more customer service-based role.
They were trying to make everybody customer service, really, and I didn’t mind doing it as part of my job, but I didn’t want that to be my main job. So, I decided I was going to go somewhere else where it’s the warehousing side that I’m focussed on.
What’s kept you coming back for ten years?
I like the work, and I like the people that I work with and for. I enjoy how structured it is. I’m a collector in my house, I collect a lot of movies, DVDs, Blu rays and stuff like that, as sad as I am, they’re all in alphabetical order so I enjoy that side of things in Stores.
You must have seen a fair bit of change in ten years. How is it now compared to when you first started?
It’s a different business. It’s huge. It was big when I first came, but it’s just getting bigger. It’s getting bigger and better, I would say.
You didn’t start as a manager, what was your first role at Allied?
I was a Materials Handler, picking kits for the Horizon line, and then as a Line Runner for the Independence S and SE, I was picking the kits and taking the stuff out to the line and dealing with any issues that arose.
Then I went to Goods-In for a couple of years, then I became a Team Leader, then Supervisor, then Assistant Manager.
What are some of the challenges that you face in Stores?
It’s a moving target. Sometimes jobs will be cancelled, or another job will become a priority at the last minute. We pick the kits a day ahead of Production’s requirements, so if we’ve already picked for a job and another one goes in its place, we then need to bring everything back and put the new one out, and it can be challenging when stuff like that happens, but it keeps you on your toes.
Sometimes it can be easier when it’s the same vehicle and the kit is the same as the other one. But it could be a Horizon that’s getting one seat, could be a Horizon that’s getting two seats or no seats.
If it’s the exact same, that’s an easy job. If it’s not the same, that’s when it becomes a wee bit more difficult, and it just depends on the modification. It’s not impossible to deal with but it can be challenging if there’s a few movements at the same time.
How would you compare company culture between a massive company like B&Q and a family business like Allied?
B&Q was very impersonal, if I can say that. There was never a face to the company. At Allied, you see the Facennas, who own the business, and the directors out and about, talking to people, you speak to them yourself, they’re very involved with the business.
At B&Q, you had your store manager, and then that was kind of where your world ended, and it was just a business. At Allied it feels as if everybody’s involved in making it work and wanting to make it better.
So how did you move to the management position in Stores? Was that something you were encouraged to do, or did you just gradually move up?
A bit of both. I always want to move up, I don’t want to just stand still. I’ve had a few different managers, and they’ve all seen that in me and gradually moved me up.
Moving from Materials Handler to Line Runner that’s just different jobs at the same level. Then moving on to the back door at Goods-In, becoming Team Leader and Supervisor, it was all under different managers. They all saw I wanted to do it and was trying to make improvements and that I was confident in my own ability.
So Allied were supportive of your ambition?
Oh yes, absolutely. I’d already done a City Guilds at B&Q, and I think you get only one for free, but Allied put me through another one, for Warehousing & Storage.
I want to see what other ones I can do, and if can I’ll go for the Management one.
Tell us your favourite Allied memory.
Getting into this role.
One of the old managers was leaving in the department, and I’d applied for his job, but the current Production Warehouse Manager, Alfie Kennedy, got it. They said, “look, you interviewed really well, we appreciate what you’ve been doing and how long you’ve been here, so we’re not going to give you that job, but how about this job?”
I just felt that Allied believed in me, really, and the managers believed in me, and wanted me to go into this.
If there was someone who was applying for a Stores position, what advice would you give them?
It’s not really advice, but I’d say they’d be joining a strong team, and a really good team to work for. There are no egos in our team. Everyone’s happy to help you. If you come in as somebody new and ask somebody something, they’ll make the time to help you, and that’s what I like about the department.
That and it’s very fast paced. We’re always on the move.
You find yourself with a couple of days off. How do you like to unwind?
Well, I’ve got a young daughter, Scarlett, about to turn one. So, most of my time is spent with her.
I’m a very geeky person, and I love anything movie or computer game related. That’s where you’ll find me, sitting in front of the television watching a film or playing PS5.
What are you playing just now?
I’m playing the Mafia games again because there’s a new one coming out. I’m a single player gamer, I don’t like online, so Mafia is good for me.
Movie wise, what would your recommendations be?
Oh, that’s a question! I’m a big horror fan, so if you like cheesy stuff any of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. And then you’ve got your classics like Heat, Goodfellas, things like that. That’s my kind of movies.
Se7en and Prisoners, are another couple of my favourites.
What’s something that not many people at Allied would know about you?
From the age of one till about five, I lived in Saudi Arabia. My dad worked over there. I was born here, moved over there, then moved back and went to primary school.
My dad went back out to Qatar, but I never moved out there. I used to spend a couple of months there every year; that was good. I wish he still worked there, so I could still get my free holiday every year!
Is there currently a goal or an objective that you’re working towards?
I would like to get the Management City & Guilds that I mentioned earlier, if that’s something that I can go for.
I’ve a couple of New Year’s resolutions as well, which is to read more and to lose some weight, so I’m already a book and a stone down.
If you weren’t in your current profession, what do you think you might have done?
I would probably do something to do with film, and likely something as simple as being a projectionist. I like to watch films, and they get paid to do that. If I was to win the lottery, I would own my own cinema and only show what I wanted to show.
Thanks to Steven for taking time out of his busy day to talk to us. If you’d like to start a career with Allied the same as Steven, we’re currently hiring for a Materials Handler in our Pre-Production department. Click or tap here to see the full job description and find out how to apply.
We’re also looking for a Quality Manager to join our Operations team, find out more about the role and how to apply here.
