Mar
04
Steven McGarry in the hot seat
2009 | Filed under Personal Focus | (0) 
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Ulster Grocer talks to Steven McGarry, Managing Director, Contact Marketing (NI) Ltd.
Briefly outline your career to date
After graduating in Business and Finance from Portobello College in Dublin, I was offered a job in the family business as a field sales executive for Favour Pet Foods. Over the years I have worked in various roles within the business and, last year, was appointed Managing Director when my father, who is company Chairman, decided it was time to take things a bit easier himself.
What does your current role involve and what is a typical working day for you?
I oversee all areas of the business, which includes not only our own pet food (Favour and Clinivet) and pet treat and pet health brands, but also various other FMCG products outside of the pet category such as Sure baby products, Firelogs and a range of off-licence accessories. A lot my time is focused on national and international sales development and product sourcing – locally, we deal with all the independents, but we also export our pet food and pet treats to the Republic of Ireland, throughout the UK and to several European countries.
What professional and personal qualities does it take to do your job effectively?
While I believe formal qualifications are important and a help, I very quickly discovered early in my career that practical experience is vital and most important of all is the ability to provide excellent service. You can have the best product in the world and offer it at a great price, but if you don’t provide your customers with a high level of service, both from administrative and product availability points of view, then you may as well forget about it!
What has been your greatest career accomplishment to date?
There have been a few, including identifying and cultivating several of our export customers. However, the most satisfying has been the development of our own brand of natural pet treats, which are made for us in Spain and include the likes of cooked Serano ham bones. In the past year-and-a-half, these top quality pet treats have enabled us to break into the multiples on the mainland for the first time and we now have full distribution with Tesco and Asda in the UK. That has been really good for the business and sharpened our minds towards further new product innovation under our own label, with a few projects in the pipeline at the moment.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Becoming a father a couple of years ago has taught me how precious life is and that there’s more to it than work! Before, I worked for myself, but now everything I do is for my family. Business is important, but personal family life is more important.
Whom do you most admire and why?
Without doubt, it’s my father Neill, who has helped be become the person I am. In a business context, his advice and support has been vital – and sometimes his lack of advice has helped me too by letting me find my own way.
Where is your favourite place and why?
I like so many places, but I spent four months in the US, mostly in Massachusetts, when I was a student and have been back several times since. My favourite place, though, is Las Vegas – it lets me indulge my fondness for cards and is great entertainment.
What makes you laugh … and cry?
Our Sales Director, Brian Sterling, always makes me laugh on a night out. He doesn’t get out that often, but when he does he really goes for it!
As for crying, listening to some of the horror stories you hear on the news can choke me up. For example, that story a few weeks ago about the little girl killed by her mother and stepfather was terrible. She had been so abused in her short life. It made me think of my own daughter and brought tears to my eyes.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
I would want the actor Tom Hanks to be there. He has played some very varied roles and I am fascinated by his ability to portray so many different characters so well. I would also invite Muhamad Ali. He’s my idol. I once met him briefly in Dublin, but really only got to shake his hand and exchange a few words. I’d love to spend hours with him, going over his exploits and experiences.
Your biggest fault is … and your redeeming feature?
Sometimes I can react too quickly to things instead of taking time to fully assess the situation. My redeeming feature is that I always try to accommodate people and make them feel relaxed in my company, both in business and from a social perspective.
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