In our latest Inspiring Leaders piece, we spoke to the newly appointed Director of Chubb Fire and Security UK, Gary Moffatt. Gary started his career with Chubb fresh out of university as one of our first-ever graduate scheme candidates. Some 22 years later, Gary has worked from the ground up to amass an incredible amount of knowledge to become a positive and inspirational leader.

Read on to discover more about Gary’s career journey with Chubb.

I grew up near Morpeth, Northumberland, which is a semi-rural town. I am an only child, so you could say I was spoiled a little! However, my parents supported me in anything I wanted to do and instilled a real work ethic in me, to the extent that I had a newspaper delivery rounds 7 days a week and me and my best friend washed cars every weekend just to get a little extra pocket money. I went through primary, middle, and high school in the area and enjoyed my school days. I made a great group of friends and still speak to them regularly. Even now, we often arrange reunions and comment that catching up is like we’ve never been apart. I’m a big Sunderland supporter; growing up, my dad and I had season tickets and attended as many matches as possible. I was very close to my dad – watching football provided a great opportunity to bond. Northumberland is very much a Newcastle United area. I was the only Mackem, surrounded by Magpies during my entire school life! To say it built character would be a good way to put it. But to be honest, I enjoyed it. It gave me something to talk about with new people. When you’re a young lad growing up, all you talk about is football. “Who do you support?”… and I’d always get the same, but ‘Why?’ when I told them.

The draw of the big city

Northumberland is a beautiful part of the world, full of rolling countryside, castles, and a coastline. But, if I’m honest, I couldn’t wait to get away. I wanted to experience big city life. When university came along, I moved to Liverpool and went to John Moore University to study Business Studies. At that point, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career. I knew I didn’t want a trade profession like plumbing or electrician, and I thought a career in a business suited me better – I didn’t know what sort of role or type of business. My first year at university was tough. I thought I would love living away from home, but I found it hard because I’d left a great group of mates back home and didn’t have that network in Liverpool. I remember being on the phone with my Mum and Dad, telling them I wanted to return home. But they were reassuring and told me to stick it out. Within a couple of months, I settled into university life with my studies and the student union and met a great bunch of people, including my future wife. I completed my first two years, and before my final year, I had the chance to complete a year-long industry placement at Compaq computers. It was down in Reading and taught me a lot about the day-to-day running of a large organisation. I returned to Liverpool, and a year later, I graduated with a 2:1.

Time to stand out

Straight after university, I applied for a handful of graduate schemes. One was at British Gas, another was for British Telecoms, and the third was at Chubb (Chubb Fire Limited at the time). Chubb had never done a graduate scheme before, and they were taking on nine graduates. I got offered all three positions, but I chose Chubb. The main reason came down to the fact that there was only space for nine people. British Gas and British Telecom were taking on hundreds of graduates. I wanted the chance to stand out and have access to mentors and senior leaders to learn from. On my first day, I caught the train down to the Chubb office wearing my smart three-piece suit to make a great impression. The nine of us got invited into the board room, and we all sat around a table and waited for the welcome talk from the MD. The MD delivered a speech about how the scheme would work, and what we could expect, and then we partnered up with a mentor. The next thing we know, we’re given a set of keys to a van. After a couple of months of shadowing and working with our engineers, we were sent to service fire extinguishers independently. Those first six months stood me in good stead for the rest of my career. I learnt how the business works from the ground up. And that is so valuable. Even now, when I talk to engineers, I can relate to them. And the fact that I can say to those guys, “I’ve been out there, I’ve done the job”, doesn’t half build a rapport with them.

The challenging world of sales

A few months later, it was time to try a different area of the business. I got placed within the sales team, and that role was the toughest I’ve ever had. I fully appreciate how difficult sales can be, so whenever I talk to any of our sales team, I offer them all the support I can. That role was probably the only time I doubted myself in my career. I felt like I couldn’t do it because the rejection knocked me. To succeed in sales, you need to get used to rejection. Back then, we only had a few sales leads and didn’t have Google or social media at our disposal. My job was knocking on doors and trying to convince people to buy our products. The worst part was when it was raining. Rejection after rejection left you feeling rubbish, and the last thing you wanted to do was get out of the car and trudge to the next door to be knocked back again. But the feeling of securing a contract outweighed all of that. I’d go as far as saying it was addictive. It was a buzz. And then you start becoming competitive. So, you see how well other salespeople are performing, and you create an unofficial league table because you want that status of doing better than your colleagues. That’s what drives you to carry on. Although technology has driven the sales job forward, the essence of the job is still the same. You still need to convince someone to part with their money and come and partner with us. That’s where selling the solution rather than the product comes in, plus the added benefit of working with Chubb. Sales is a great experience, and my advice to anyone who wants to be a manager is to try sales. Sales incorporates everything you need to be a good manager. It improves communication skills, influencing skills, negotiation, and commercial acumen, and it’s a good grounding for anyone who wants a career in management.

First step on the managerial ladder

Just before the end of my grad scheme, the fire extinguisher and fire alarm business merged, and we began selling a broader solution. I got interested in that new side of the business and started spending time with the fire alarm engineers. A managerial role came up at another branch, and I’m an ambitious guy, so I met with my manager and explained that I wanted to progress. Even though I hadn’t finished the graduate scheme and was destined to stay in sales, I took it upon myself to move forward. This new role was based in Wakefield, over in West Yorkshire. I lived in Liverpool. I discussed it with my wife, who was really supportive, but she didn’t want to leave Liverpool. That left me with a decision to make. There was this job that I wanted, and they don’t come up very often, but it’s on the other side of the country. I’d decided to go for it, but I pledged never to moan about the journey. I was going to grit my teeth and get on with it. I got an interview and went all out to get this job. I’d spent a few weekends preparing a presentation and made it so they couldn’t say no to me. And they didn’t. I got the job and travelled a round-trip of nearly 130 miles every day for two and half years. I never whinged about the travel because I knew it was my chance to get on the managerial ladder. I haven’t looked back since. I learnt some essential skills along the way, notably my management style. In the beginning, I tried to adopt the techniques of some of my past managers because I thought that was how to manage. But I quickly learnt that trying to put on a facade and be somebody you are not is exhausting. After a few months, I realised I was better off just being me. It became apparent that if I had happy employees, I had happy customers. And that’s what I’ve done ever since.

Quick-fire questions

What do you enjoy doing on your days off?

Going to the Stadium of Light to see my beloved Sunderland. My son now comes to games with me which is great. I lost my dad seven years ago, and that hit me hard. The hardest time was when I went to watch a game on my own because I’d never been to a game without him. But now my son comes along, and it’s something we share, just like I did with my dad. My son’s not the biggest football fan in the world, but I’m slowly converting him. We’ve also recently discovered crazy golf. My son loves it, so we compete on new and different crazy golf courses most weekends. We’ll make a day of it and have a meal afterwards, and it’s all about family time.

Do you read books or watch TV?

I prefer watching TV to reading for pleasure, its easier! We’ve recently had an extension put onto our house. So now we’ve got two rooms where we can watch TV. This is ideal on a Friday night after a long week at work as me and my wife like to watch different things. So, I’ll head into the extension and watch football or something while my wife is in the lounge watching something else. At about 9 pm, I’ll head back to the lounge, the wine comes out, and we’ll watch something together. I like business-related dramas such as Succession or Billions or gritty gangster series like Gangs of London.

What’s your favourite colour?

Red for Sunderland. It is also a dream of mine to own a red Ferrari.

If you could host a dinner party with three guests, who would you invite, and what food would you serve?

My first guest would be Liam Gallagher. Many people say I’m stuck in the 90s regarding my music taste – and they’re probably right. I’m a big fan of Oasis and Liam Gallagher. I love his attitude and his swagger, and I’ll be there if there is ever an Oasis reunion! Number two would be Naill Quinn because he is a Sunderland legend. He played for the club, he managed the club, and he owned the club. When Sunderland were in a bad way, he stood up and saved us. Legend! The third person would be John Lennon. Through listening to Oasis, I also got into the Beatles, which was probably one reason I went to Liverpool for university because I liked the Beatles. John Lennon was such an interesting guy. It wasn’t just about the music for him. It was about principles and how he wanted to change the world. Fun fact: I worked in the Cavern Club while I attended university. I worked there every Friday and Saturday night. Regarding what we could eat, it would have to be a curry. Just because I like curry!