Day in the life - Head of Commercial

No two days are the same for our Head of Commercial, Chris Whittle, something he will often attest to, however, we were feeling curious about what a random day in the life of Chris looks like, so we joined him on a sunny Thursday in London to see exactly what he gets up to.

The role of Head of Commercial includes many important tasks, with Chris responsible for the commercial management of several key projects at any one time.

Essential Tasks.

With that in mind, maintaining an active presence on our sites is rather important, not only to stay up to date with our progress, but also to keep in close contact with our client’s team (ok, and maybe to keep our site teams on their toes!)

On this particular day, it was quite a busy one. Chris visited three of our major projects in London, chatting with Main Contractors, Designers, our own Site Managers, and many in between about our installation progress, and discussing any queries that come up along the way. We really cannot understate the importance of communication on fast-moving projects such as these, and a key benefit of our location means we are just an hour from the site, and maintaining that face-to-face approach is absolutely crucial in ensuring a smooth and successful project.

Site visits can be hungry work, and a pit stop for some lunch at a spot recommended by one of our team (who may or may not have too much time on their hands!), Chris, along with others from Thorpes Joinery, attended a yearly networking event that is held by one of our biggest clients.

Importance of Communication.

Whilst it is definitely a nice perk to be able to step away from the desk and the many, many phone calls that this entails to have a beer (or two) with clients and other members of the fit-out industry, events like this one are an absolutely vital part of Chris’ role. Sparking conversations and putting names to faces will always help with any industry, but in construction it is crucial and the building and maintaining of these relationships can often be the difference between a smooth project, and a rocky one. Fortunately, at Thorpes we want to work with people and actively encourage these sorts of events to be well attended.

Whilst this showcases what one day could look like in the role of Head of Commercial, tomorrow could be completely different.

Despite this, what doesn’t change is Chris’ approach and commitment towards his role, qualities that are recognised and appreciated by the whole team.