Aside from being a life-long Everton Football Club supporter, and keen but frustrated Golfer, Alan Galloway is Head of Sports and Leisure here at AIS. Read on to hear what his average day looks like in and out of the office:
On The Road
In late November James Crabtree (Head of Fashion) and I ventured North to visit some of our members in Scotland. We visited Castle Warehouse in Peebles and met with Alexander and his wonderful team.
After staying in Perth for the night we then drove up to George Donald in Peterhead where Steven hosted us for the day, introducing us to his dad, uncle, aunt and his nan at various points during the day, and saw what a vast business they have.
We finished our trip at Glendoick Garden Centre in Perth (below) and Valerie showed us around an exceptionally merchandised fashion area and Christmas Department.
Here's what Alan had to say about the trip:
"These valuable trips are not just an excellent opportunity to meet face to face with Members but allow us to experience first-hand the diverse retailers that make the AIS membership what it is today. All our stores have essential parts to play in their community, particularly sports and leisure stores as they play an important role for so many local teams, sporting events and schools.
The visits are also a chance for us to share commercial opportunities from our own experience or best practice that we may have seen in other locations, covering product, visual merchandising, retail operations and digital channels."
Before work, Alan escapes early on walks his dog Toffee before dropping the kids off at school. Then, Alan's day in the office is jam packed with catchups with his great team of Nina McNamara & Stephanie Lee with the odd flying tennis ball and #AISMember and #AISSupplier Engagement plans.
A day in the life
In late November James Crabtree and I ventured North to visit some of our members in Scotland. We visited Castle Warehouse Peebles and met with Alexander and his wonderful team.
5:45am
Since August 2023 when our new puppy arrived, its wake up, make 2 coffees one for my 16-year-old son and me, feed Sox and Smudge (cats) and Toffee (dog), get the first shower whilst the rest of the family slumber and turn off alarms and they get their breakfast, whilst I escape for a walk with Toffee.
7.00am
Load the car with coffee, water and kids for the school and college drop off at 7:30, before heading down the motorway puzzle and dice roll of the M53, M56, M6, M42 to the office. Listen to Audible recently finished ‘Outlive’ by Dr Peter Attia, highly recommended by Sam Walker from Walker and Ling and a great listen, my current listen is ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’ by Simon Jordan.
9.00am - 10.00am
Days Objectives and aims, catch up with Nina and Steph on any pressing matters or tasks and our focus for the day ahead, and discuss potential content and updates for the Retailers Hub that Nina and Steph feel are our key priorities to share that week, and on Thursdays Newsletter.
11am-Noon
Member Engagement, what can I or the team do to facilitate, support or drive improvement on behalf of an AIS member? I try to keep things as simple as possible, as things can get a tad complicated. I try to follow a rule 3 things to focus on… what 3 things can I or the team do that improves the day, week, month.
12:30pm
Lunch with Nina and Steph and other available team members from AIS in the Dining Room - something different each day, made by our amazing Catering Team.
1.00pm
Each Tuesday SLT/Trading Team Meeting, the leadership and trading team discuss all things AIS and our values and ways of working discussing key matters for Members, Suppliers, Retail, and cross functional collaboration, be it examples of best practice from our recent Joint Business Plans, sharing updates on Store or Supplier visits and meetings.
3.00pm
Supplier Engagement, as with the above Member Engagement focus, what can I or the team do that supports our AIS Suppliers? Be it product, price, and commercially focused opportunity for our membership. Over the past 12 months several AIS Fashion Department stores have moved into stocking Sports and Leisure products, which the team and I are really excited about.
4.00pm
One to one weekly catch up with Nina, my right hand or leg…whichever is the most important! A time for Nina and me to review her and my progress on our set yearly objectives, covering our newly launched AIS Values, Team Development and any pressing matters regarding our Members & Suppliers.
5.00pm
Review diary and the day/week objectives and overall sense check.
Then head back up the motorway puzzle and dice roll of the M42, M6, M56, M53 to home, and its ‘Dad’s Cabs’ time for my daughter's swimming training, and my son's bouldering session. Santa brought me a Garmin Fenix 7 for Christmas and I need to try and work out if I move more before 5:45am or after 9pm… all suggestions welcome!
