He may only have been with Allied Vehicles for 18 months, but in that time Jack McCarney has become a familiar face in the facilities department.
As assistant facilities coordinator, his job involves the procurement of everything the company buys. Jack gets the invoices together, deals with contractors, tradespeople, PPE suppliers and electricians for the nitrogen compressor.
It’s his job to gather quotes for supplies and contractors, undertake stock checks for PPE and stationery, and be the main point of contact for anything that needs done across the site.
Jack admits his is a wide-ranging role: “It is and procurement is something I’d never done before.
“It can be difficult sometimes when you get people asking, ‘how much do you pay for staples and whatnot?’ And I’ve had plenty of that I suppose.”
Jack’s previous role was with Second Opportunities, a charity in Ibrox that recycles furniture and white goods to help tackle poverty and social exclusion, where he was mostly responsible for all their admin work.
He says the biggest part of that was dealing with Renfrewshire Council: “With Scottish Welfare Benefit we would supply all the white goods for that.
“We had quite a tight turnaround, so I had to get everything sorted, and make sure all the machines were ready to go and allocate them to each individual, so that was probably my main job in Second Opportunities.
“I enjoyed myself and I’ve been there twice – first in 2018 and I left to go to Kier Group and then I went back during Covid. I loved the place to be fair, and it’s stood me in good stead for this.
We had a range of people from different cultures and with different personalities. It was very eye opening to work in.
“People, for example, they would get a machine through us and we’d also have to make sure it was in good nick. Basically, that was the main part of my job there.
“I also did a lot of SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) reporting, issues obviously including declaring white goods, how much waste we used, how many we brought in, so I had to do a lot of reporting to SEPA and EMR Recycling, who we also use here in facilities for our scrap metals.”
Jack came to Allied at the tail end of the Covid pandemic. Until then the charity he worked for was still selling white goods, but they had only a skeleton staff because people couldn’t go into the shop.
Up until that point, the charity would collect used appliances from a Curry’s electrical hub in Cumbernauld, until the pandemic put a halt to that.
Jack recalls: “That all stopped because people weren’t buying new goods and just had to make do with what they had.
“That was a struggle, but people had to work. They had to survive and it was very difficult.”
Over the past year, Jack says he’s been getting used to his new role: “I had never done procurement purchasing when I came here, so it was something totally different for me.
“Production had stopped and was just starting to pick up. I would say since I’ve been in we’ve not had any supply issues or anything like that, everything’s gone smoothly.
“I’ve been getting used to the job because if it was just for me, I would just go and buy wherever I wanted to, and obviously I had to get out of that mindset and then look for the best value for money.
“We spend a lot of money, but we also save a lot of money as well.
“A report goes out to the directors every week to show how much we spend. So yeah, it was interesting and a lot to get used to and obviously get my head around.
“It’s not always how much we buy it’s what we’re buying, the quality of stuff we buy.”
Although it’s early days in his Allied post, Jack says he’s hopeful of it developing over time:
“Donna’s my line manager and she’s now facilities and security coordinator, so I’m mostly hoping to pick up from her.
“It’s been a quick year, but I’m hoping to get into more things and hopefully different departments further down the line and pick up more skills in the business.”
Away from work, Jack is a committed fan of The Buddies, for better or worse: “Bobby will tell you I’m a huge St Mirren fan, so I follow St Mirren at home and away.
“It can be painful at times but it can also be very good, so that’s probably my main hobby and costly at times as well!.
“I also enjoy going out with my friends just doing what every 25-year-old boy does.”
If you’re interesting in working in Allied Vehicles facilities, they are looking for a Maintenance Assistant here: https://careers.alliedvehiclesgroup.com/job/maintenance-assistant-198.aspx
