Ian Allen Location: 12 Azalea Gardens, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hampshire, GU52 8UY. Landline: 01252 623387 Mobile: 07917 251502 Email: ian.allen1@gmail.com Personal Profile In excess of 9 yrs experience in an Operational and Facility Management position. A self motivated and proactive individual able to demonstrate a wide range of practical knowledge and experience developed through operating a multi-site SME across the south of England. Possessing strong organisational skills and interpersonal qualities, proven leadership skills along with a diplomatic management style with a propensity for the customer service side of business development. Areas of Expertise Leadership & Strategic Planning Disaster Management Operational & Project Management Budgeting & Financial Control Facility Management Property Acquisition & Funding Customer Service & Liaison Staff Training & Development H.R Management & Control Resource Management Health & Safety Responsibility New Business Development Significant Achievements Achieved re-accreditation of the Investors In People award repeatedly and nominated in 2006/7 by the assessors for the national Investors in People award Successfully developed and introduced new staff training techniques to improve customer loyalty and increase contract lengths. Directly responsible for and the management of a commercial property portfolio containing specialised storage and serviced office facilities across 10 buildings valued in excess of 40m Personally designed and achieved Building Warrant approval for a 120,000 sqft Self-Storage facility in Dundee, Scotland. Design, build and management of an environmentally controlled archive facility for Bristol University, specifically housing over 10m of rare books across 26km of racking with state of the art HVAC, fire and security systems Successfully implemented changes to counteract legislation by the Financial Services Authority, governing the selling of insurance to the public by the Self- Storage industry
Professional Experience Managing Director April 2009 September 2010 StoreWise Self Storage Employed by private investors to develop an existing business, I had complete autonomy to manage the business within agreed targets and was tasked with promoting growth of both the operating business and the property portfolio value. Increased annual turnover by 89% through management of discounts and s per sqft control Increased insurance sales by 900% by introducing point of sale techniques Implemented industry standard Terms & Conditions limiting company liability Reviewed and dramatically improved operating practices and procedures Rolled out online enquiry and rental facilities Project managed the refurbishment of an existing building Freelance Consultant October 2007 January 2009 UR-Store Self Storage Consultants After the sale of KeepSafe I was asked by several companies to manage a variety of specific projects. After this I predominantly worked with new investors and existing operators assisting in all areas of establishing new self storage facilities as well as the change management to existing businesses needed to create more efficient/profitable enterprises. The UK s first dedicated self storage consultant Produced business plans and executive summaries for funding purposes Presented budgets and cash flow projections to investors and stakeholders Advised on operational legislation and best practices Advised and negotiated on behalf of private investors and pension funds Operated across the UK, France and Italy Group Operations Manager January 2001 October 2007 KeepSafe Self Storage Directly responsible for the day-to-day management of the KeepSafe Group of Companies and to deputise in the absence of the Managing Director with authority to make decisions as necessary, managed a team of 10 head office administrative and financial staff and 30 facility personnel along with construction crews deployed across the country on routine building and maintenance schedules. Responsible for the business operations in 10 facilities across the UK totalling over 400,000 sqft with on average 2500 tenants. Responsible for the management and leasing of 40 serviced office suites across the group along with specialised archive facilities for Bristol University and the Surrey Institute of Art & Design Agreed and managed the delivery of the company s business plan and sales/profit targets achieving the last 3 years group budgets within a 3% margin to profit
Continually reviewed and developed the overall strategy for the operational management of the group to ensure efficiency was maintained Created business terms and conditions which remain the industry standard today Managed, developed and participated within the training strategy of new and existing personnel centred around customer relations and customer loyalty Successfully orchestrated the growth of the group from a turnover of 750k to almost 5m Managed the sale of the group to a competitor in a 30m acquisition including financial and contractual documentation, personnel change management and TUPE legislation. Previous Employment History Initially employed as an Architectural Technician I sidestepped to a Civil Engineering Consultancy as a draughtsman before moving into composite engineering and development for Jaguar Sport, Benetton and TWR Racing finally moving to KeepSafe in 2001. There have been no gaps in my employment history. Qualifications Certificate in Leadership and Management - Residential course with the Leadership Trust, Wales. (B/Tec) National Diploma - Surveying & Cartography at Nottingham University HNC - Civil Engineering at Lincoln University O Levels in English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Design & Technology Interests I am a keen biker and I enjoy touring the UK and Europe regularly with friends and family. I also pursue interests in cooking, motorsport, off-roading (both 4x4 and motorcycle), walking, golf, reading and playing the guitar (albeit rather badly). References Both professional and personal references can be supplied upon request
f g ** m» i *»ti * * Farnham Trading Estate, Famham, GU9 9NP kl "I "I rf* jlf 1 1! Tel: 01252-723282 Fax: 01252-723262 SELF - STORAGE Email: rod.edge@keepsafe.ltd.uk To whom it may concern Open Employee Reference for Ian Allen 27th September 2007 It is my pleasure to recommend to you Ian Allen who I have known in my capacity as Managing Director and Owner of KeepSafe Self Storage for nearly seven years. Ian joined KeepSafe on 2nd January 2001 as a Centre Manager at our Nottingham facility and quickly proved to be an asset to the company. In April of 2001 Ian was promoted to Regional Manager with overall responsibility for two new facilities in Birmingham and Bristol as well as remaining in control of the Nottingham centre. Ian demonstrated excellent skills in customer relations, project management, operational procedures as well as man-management. He also quickly adapted to take on the extra responsibility of Health & Safety and maintenance scheduling for his storage facilities. In November of 2001, after the retirement of my present Operations Manager, I was happy to offer the position over to Ian. Since then he has demonstrated total commitment to the company and has been an unwavering support to the head office team and centre staff alike. He has worked tirelessly to grow the company and has been personally responsible for many of the groups successes although prefers to allow the team to take the credit. Ian has a wide and varied breadth of experience and knowledge covering all aspects of business management and in particular building customer loyalty within a brand. Whilst he is confident in many high level areas such as funding and property purchasing, he shows particular strengths in leadership and operational areas whilst has the ability to cut through the numbers and identify real issues when dealing with management accounts. As a senior executive and investor, I have had complete and total trust in his abilities to deliver what he agrees and can assure you that he is an asset that any business would benefit from. Unfortunately due to the sale of the business, all senior management have been made redundant with their final day expected to be 27th October 2007. I know that Ian is personally deeply disappointed that the management team will be split up and has recently shown incredible strength of character by supporting both the outgoing staff and those centre staff which will remain working for the new management. Faithfully, Rod Edge Managing Director KeepSafe Self Storage
WISE PO Box 491, Fleet Hampshire. GU51 9FP Tel: 0800 276 1280 SELF-STORAGE Fax: 01202 747590 Open Reference for Ian Allen 7 September 2010 Ian Allen has been employed by Storewise Self Storage since 31 March 2009 as the company's Managing Director. Ian has proven himself to possess an extensive and detailed knowledge of the self storage industry and has demonstrated that he is capable of managing a growing business spread across the country. His role as Managing Director required him to take ownership of ail aspects of the company and in this regard there has been no issues raised by the shareholders and investors alike. I have found Ian extremely approachable with a no nonsense approach to saying how a situation is along with how it should be dealt with. He considers all sides of an argument before making his decision and as such makes sure his has all the necessary facts at hand. Whilst with the company Ian oversaw the refurbishment of an existing site and building in Nottinghamshire along with the rolling out of two new sites in Southampton and Poole. He was also responsible for the successful rebranding of the company including its internet presence. Unfortunately due to the increased pressures placed upon the investor's main group of companies, the available funding apportioned to Storewise, as it is a private company, has been cut adding new pressures. I am aware that this has disappointed Ian greatly and as a result he has decided to leave. I would recommend Ian to any company with true sincerity and wish him the very best for the future. Marc Trent Chairman Storewise Self Storage