Q&A: Dan Evans
13 January 2023
Dan Evans was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Speedy on 1 October 2022. He joined the business as a Depot Manager 15 years ago and has held several senior positions with the company, which currently employs around 3,500 people across 200 UK locations. Dan also sits on the Supply Chain Sustainability School board.
What was your first job after leaving school?
I had two jobs when I was 18. The main one was working briefly in the geotechnical drawings department of a civil engineering company in Essex, where my father was a director. I also worked spare-time in a bar because I’ve always enjoyed the social interaction with all sorts of people.
But I understand you’d already had contact with Speedy before then?
When I was 13, I worked Saturdays doing odd jobs at the Enfield depot. It was just a casual job and I obviously had no idea that I would actually end up having a career with the company.
So how and when did you end up working for Speedy full-time?
I left the civil engineering firm and joined a similar, larger business called the Andersons Group in 2004, working in Barking, primarily in sales. They had an in-house hire operation which they wanted to expand to serve external customers. It proved very successful and I became Sales Manager. Speedy were a competitor and they offered me a job in 2008 (the year after the Hewden acquisition). The initial salary package wasn’t much better but that wasn’t the point. I was impressed by the company culture: there was no glass ceiling to progression within the business. I joined as Depot Manager at Walthamstow.
How did your career evolve?
It was challenging to say the least given the sudden 2008 economic downturn. But the depot performed very strongly and it is at times like that you know what your team can achieve. Within nine months, I was offered a Regional Manager’s position for East and Central London. This was fascinating because Speedy was amongst the hirers involved with construction work for the 2012 Olympic Games facilities, which saw the wider introduction of many new approaches like NRMM (non-road mobile machinery) regulations and low-emission transport strategies. I later became Regional Director for East Anglia and then had a spell back in London.
I subsequently became a contracts director working with major accounts, then MD for the UK and Ireland, and eventually Chief Operating Officer responsible for the Group's operational performance in the UK and Ireland including sales, business development and marketing. I took over as CEO on 1 October when Russell Down stepped back. My 15 years at Speedy have given me an insight into all aspects of the company. In fact, I’d like to think that I know at least half the people in our business by name.
That’s quite something!
It doesn’t cost anything to say hello or good morning to a colleague in the corridor or on the stairs. It’s rude not to and it only takes a minute. I love this business and our people.
What is the best part of your job?
It’s the amazing diversity of hire as an industry. Every day is different and each opportunity brings new challenges.
And what is the worst?
I think it’s the general observation that our industry sometimes doesn’t get the credit or profile it deserves. For example, the super-deduction capital allowance on plant and machinery investments was available to the construction industry during the pandemic but not to hire companies. The Government did not recognise the role we play in infrastructure development and it would have really helped hirers to invest, as well as boosting the economy.
What is the main challenge currently facing the industry?
Perhaps hire as a sector isn’t doing enough to attract new people into it, particularly young people, or giving them opportunities to develop new skills. And we need to continue to broaden the employee profile of the industry in all aspects: gender, ethnicity, disability and so on.
What frustrates you?
On a personal level it’s when I feel I am not learning something quickly enough. Professionally speaking, it annoys me that school subjects like business and finance are only offered as options: these are transferable skills that encourage entrepreneurship and should be as important in the curriculum as English and Maths.
What was your favourite school subject?
Along with business studies and economics, I always loved sport. My grandfather Dennis Evans played football professionally for Arsenal in the 1950s as captain and left-back. I played football and rugby at school but I suffered a very serious leg injury in my teens which sadly put a stop to that.
If things had been different, what other career might you have considered?
Until the injury, I wanted to pursue sport professionally but my plans had to change quickly. I started studying Psychology and Sports Science at the University of Kent in Canterbury but I just couldn’t stand it: the course content seemed quite irrelevant. And everybody seemed to take pride in eating only things like soggy boiled pasta – if anything at all. Technically, I lasted four days on the course and by then I had had enough. I went out and had an enormous pizza; three weeks later I was working at Andersons.
I obviously have great respect for further education but it can’t just be an end in itself or a badge of honour. It has to be right for what you want to do and there are other career routes like technical apprenticeships, or just getting straight into the world of work.
What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever been given, or that you would pass on to others?
Give people their moment. If someone has achieved something or won an award, don’t stand in their light. Ensure they have a pedestal on which to celebrate.
I normally ask Q&A interviewees if they follow a particular sport or team. I can guess your answer…
Yes, we have had two Arsenal season tickets in the Evans family since 1958 so we’ve supported them through the good and bad times. I also follow Saracens in rugby.
What new skill would you like to learn?
Since becoming CEO I’m having to talk the language of City analysts, brokers and bankers, and to give presentations. It’s a challenge but I’m enjoying it and the feedback already has been very positive.
If you could invite three famous people (past or present) to dinner, who would you choose?
One would be Richie McCaw, the New Zealand rugby union player and captain because of how he stayed at the top of his game for so long, and for the sheer dedication of the All Blacks. I’d also invite Arsenal legend Ian Wright – because he would be so entertaining as much as anything; and Olympic athlete Dame Kelly Holmes who overcame great challenges and disappointments to achieve what she did. And I’d make sure there was a fourth seat for my grandfather Dennis.
Do you have any resolutions or ambitions for 2023?
To continue settling into my new role! And to maintain a work-life balance, which I think I’ve always been pretty good at. Still having fairly young children, I generally try to keep a 6am to 6pm main working pattern: remember that not every email that comes in at 8pm needs to answered right away.
Finally, any future plans or anything you’d like to highlight?
The fact that hirers like Speedy can offer so many career opportunities to so many people. We just need to position ourselves in the right way. I also find being on the Supply Chain Sustainability School board extremely valuable. It has broadened my understanding of ESG issues and, as the only board member not working directly for a construction contractor, I aim to represent our industry generally and reflect its wider views.
And above all, we must promote hire as probably the most environmentally friendly and virtuously circular business there is. More people are realising that they don’t need to own equipment and can benefit from always being able to hire the most up-to-date, sustainable and cost-effective products available. The advantages and future opportunities are enormous.
