Ones to Watch: Chris Whittaker
As part of Family Business Week 2023 we are profiling a series of future family business leaders who are ‘Ones to Watch’.
Chris Whittaker
Director, Platts Group
A qualified personal trainer, Chris Whittaker is helping his business get fit.
In fact, the theme of fitness seems to run through everything about Chris and the Platts Group, a transport and agriculture services company.
“Physical fitness has always been important to me”, Chris says, as it gives him focus to tackle new challenges and helps him switch off from the business when needed. “Fitness and eating right are great for mental health and reducing stress.”
But it’s more than just about himself. The business unit that Chris manages, Platts Transport Limited, employs 28 HGV drivers, a profession known for its traditionally unhealthy lifestyle. But an exercise and nutrition course designed by Chris – which has since been spun off into a separate business – is helping Platts drivers reverse that tradition, to the benefit of their health and productivity. Chris recounts the story of one employee who has struggled with obesity and chest infections. “But he turned that around and within 12 months ran a marathon.”
Endurance seems to be in the company culture. Chris also talks about Brian, “a local Wrexham lad”, who joined Platts in 1973 as a class one driver and is still with the company 50 years later (albeit no longer putting in the miles on the road). Chris describes him as a hard worker who has “been through the ups and downs with the company” and is now “a part of the family”.
Those are the stories that Chris, clearly a very accessible boss, enjoys telling. Staff know that his phone is always on, no matter what time of the day, or on the weekend… There’s no hierarchy in the business; it’s a flat organisation.”
Chris does a lot of listening – seeking to understand Platts employees’ personal ambitions, aspirations, and motivations – and that’s where he gets a lot of ideas for the business. He has introduced flexible working patterns for drivers, improving work-life balance and the company’s ability to recruit new drivers as well.
To reinforce the company’s focus on people, the Platts Group has invested in recruiting a full-time senior HR professional, promoting better working lives for all staff across the group.
An entrepreneurial streak runs through everything Chris does. “I’ve always been around business, always looked for opportunities. I’ve just been brought up that way.”
Having hired a videographer to produce videos to recruit new drivers, Chris ended up spinning off a stand-alone video marketing agency – called Just Content.
The group has also recently acquired some extra land, allowing it to expand into warehouse development.
Meanwhile, he juggles his role as MD of Platts Transport with serving as Commercial Director at Platts Agriculture – where he has been instrumental in driving growth by securing and procuring new contracts with nationwide suppliers -- effectively future-proofing the company, reducing risk and enabling investment.
If running a business is a marathon, Chris has a long way still to go, but signs are that he has the fitness and mentality to be a winner.
Read more from about our ‘Ones to Watch’ here.