Seven years ago, Allan wasn’t looking for a career in facilities maintenance.
But after 13 years working in airport security, he knew one thing for certain.
“I wanted to be outside,” he says. “I wanted something more physical, something outdoors.”
Before he joined Elara, Allan spent much of his spare time volunteering in Kenya, helping to build facilities and support an orphanage project. What began as a one-off trip became something much bigger.
“I’d been going back three or four times a year for about eight years,” he says. “Then I took three months off work to go out there properly. I absolutely loved it.”
It wasn’t just the experience that stayed with him. It reinforced something he’d always known about himself: how much he enjoyed helping others.
When he spotted a part-time gardening role at Elara Group in 2019, it felt like exactly the fresh start he was looking for.
Every day brings something different
Allan looks after equipment maintenance, vehicle maintenance, groundskeeping, health and safety coordination, and compliance across the business. Or, as he puts it, the person making sure everything behind the scenes keeps working.
One day he’ll be servicing company vehicles. The next he’ll be repairing cleaning equipment, delivering supplies to sites, or making sure the business stays on top of its ISO requirements.
“There isn’t really a typical day,” he says. “I might come in with a plan, then five minutes later somebody rings and says, ‘Can you go here?’ or ‘Can you sort this?'”
For Allan, that’s exactly how he likes it.
“I’ve got my list, I prioritise it and work through it. Rebecca and Bev trust me to manage my own workload.”
If he doesn’t know, he’ll learn
Ask Allan what he’s most proud of, and he won’t talk about a particular project. Instead, he talks about everything he’s learned.
“When I started, I was just doing gardening. I’d never even used petrol equipment before. Now I’m maintaining vans, repairing vacuums, carrying out health and safety checks… I’ve learned so much.”
One thing becomes clear very quickly when you talk to Allan: he enjoys figuring things out. Not because he wants recognition, but because he knows that every new skill helps someone else.
If a machine breaks, he’ll research how to fix it. If something can be repaired instead of replaced, he’ll have a go. If learning something new saves the business time or money, even better.
“I’m not an electrician and I’m not a mechanic,” he says. “I know my limits. But I’ll always have a look first. Sometimes it’s something you can sort yourself, and if you can save the company money while learning something new, why wouldn’t you?”
That curiosity has transformed his role over the last seven years.
“I’ve surprised myself with how much I’ve learned. If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t know half the things I know now.”
It’s the little things
Like many at Elara, Allan believes the people make the difference. “It’s got a personal touch that a lot of companies don’t have.”
His own 40th birthday was a perfect example.
“I walked into the office and there were balloons everywhere. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God… this is for me?’ Then Donna’s partner had baked me a proper birthday cake. I was genuinely shocked.”
Christmas is much the same.
“Every member of staff gets a Christmas present. Not just a voucher and ‘off you go’. We actually spend weeks buying everything, wrapping it up and putting the gift bags together. You just wouldn’t get that anywhere else.”
Looking ahead
Seven years on, Allan still enjoys the same things that brought him to Elara in the first place.
“I like being outdoors. I like the variety. It’s relaxed here, but everybody works hard. Everyone helps each other out. It’s just a nice place to be.”
His passion for wildlife and conservation is still as strong as ever, and whenever he can, he looks for ways to encourage nature around the sites he looks after.
For Allan, it’s the combination that makes the role work: plenty of variety, the freedom to get on with the job, and always something new to learn.
“As long as I’m still learning and every day is different,” he says, “I’m happy.”
