New Chief Operating Officer Appointed

Cleveland Containers Appoints New Chief Operating Officer

Meet Andrew Thompson: A Q&A with our new Chief Operating Officer.

27th September 2022

Andrew Thompson Chief Operating Officer at Cleveland Containers

Continuing our successful year, we are ecstatic to announce the appointment of Andrew Thompson, our new Chief Operating Officer. An extremely ambitious, award-winning and highly experienced leader, Andrew joins the team at a pivotal time following our investment from LDC. We sat down with Andrew to find out more about him...

Welcome to the team, Andrew! As an established and well-rounded leader, would you like to discuss your working background?

Firstly can I begin by saying thank you for the warmest welcome! The team fully embraces new starters, which has helped me hit the ground running!

After leaving New College Durham with my diploma in Business, Finance and Marketing I began my career in retail. Working within the Cooperative Group, I started as a part-time store assistant and in 1996 I completed a management course to progress into a store supervisor role. Alongside this employment, I completed a Higher National Diploma in Business Management at the University of Sunderland.

I then spent the next 15 years working from store supervisor to Regional Director, leading a team of over 3,000 employees.

In 2011 I joined Hewden as a Regional Manager before becoming UK Operations Director. I was responsible for driving revenue and customer excellence through sales and operational team management.

Following my time with Hewden, I ventured over to Mobile Mini UK starting as a Director and took the reigns as Managing Director in 2019. Leading the company to historic, record results across every area of the business from commercial, customer, safety and people. Lead by a strong people focused culture.

No matter the role, or company, I pride myself on my tenacity for continuous improvement. I believe if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.

What attracted you to Cleveland Containers?

Cleveland Containers has an ethos that made the firm unmissable to me. We're a fast-paced, growing company with strong family values at the heart of the business.

The company's ambition reflects my own; striving for constant improvement and growth. We both refuse to sit still. If there is scope in new ventures, we explore it instantly.

What are your plans for Cleveland Containers?

We have so much potential and ambition, so I've been brought on board to harness that and help us reach that pinnacle next level.

Our momentum is geared towards widening our reach in the market. Cleveland Containers will be the supplier of choice for full turnkey solutions. We've collated a team of the best of the best in the industry so, I am confident we will be able to achieve this status imminently.

We're proud of our world-class Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 74, but this is just the start. Another goal is to improve the customer experience by increasing our NPS to 80+, which I believe is easily achievable for the team.

Within weeks of joining the firm, we've won Teesside Company of the Year, and our financial controller won North East Accountant of the Year! We're off to a great start and we're not slowing down for anyone.