It was a move of just 300 yards on his daily commute, but very different in style and job function.  

Ironically Alan had been given his break at Interdean by Ronan Woodhouse who worked there at the time and now runs EMS.  Alan was first employed at Interdean as finance director, then Group CFO and finally Europe CFO and COO.  

He is very excited to be joining EMS.  He said that he had performed in some very senior roles in the past but he was looking forward to getting more closely involved with moving.  “This is a chance to be managing director and probably help them a little more,” he said. “Ronan [Woodhouse] and Nick [Stevens, General Manager] are very operational whereas I have had broader experience in finance and accountancy, sales, process and systems.  So I think I have skills that can complement theirs.”  

Alan said that EMS is a fast-growing company that has focussed on servicing the relocation companies but he believes that there are plenty more opportunities to grow the business further. “For me it’s a chance to make a significant impact,” he said.  “We want to focus on being attractive to European corporations, servicing the relocation companies, and developing our relationships with agents all over the world.”  

He said that EMS provided outstanding service as demonstrated by the recent awards the company has won*.  “The company has really focussed on service quality. Lots of people talk about service quality but the staffing and the training that they do on communication with the transferee and the corporation is really at a very high level.  It’s communication that makes the difference.  When you have a high level of communication, if things start to go wrong you can nip them in the bud.” He said that EMS has extra administrators to help the teams when necessary and the ability to boost customer service personnel to handle small issues before they become problems.  “It’s to their credit that some of the top organisations often give EMS their VIP moves when they do have a choice.”  

*EMS recently won the Cartus Masters Cup as the RMC’s top moving supplier and the Brookfield Platinum Award for moving services 

Photo: Alan Cartwright.