PROFILE
The right place An unusual meeting led to Sion Pritchard becoming managing director of Petplace. He tells Kate Hamilton his unusual recruitment story…
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If you are working in security and you happen to catch somebody who has forgotten to pay for an item, then you are unlikely to think that the following awkward conversation is going to result in a life changing opportunity. Yet that is exactly what happened to Sion Pritchard, Managing Director of Petplace. “20 years ago, I had a job in Spar as a manager,” explains Sion. “I’d left school with no qualifications, but I had a knack of spotting shoplifters! I was working late one night when I spotted a gentleman who had forgotten to pay for an item – but when I let him go, I got offered a job by a customer!” The customer in question was Gwyn Lewis, the founder of Farm and Pet Place – the go-to shop in North Wales for all agricultural supplies. This was in 2000, and it wasn’t long before Sion moved up the ranks in his new firm – firstly to Store Manager and then to Area Manager. Ten years later and the company asked Sion to become a director and sit on the board.
“It was very flattering but I felt as though I wasn’t qualified enough,” he explains. “So, I agreed to the position on the basis that I could study for a degree in business management. They agreed and I became Sales Director. It took me four years to get the degree, going to college one evening a week, working fulltime and completing all of the necessary coursework. But I did it, and was proud to have completed the course while still being so hands on in the business.” And it paid dividends, because Sion shortly became Operations Director in order to allow Gwyn to take semi retirement. At this point the company was still focussing on its agricultural customers, and Sion saw an opportunity to focus more on the pet side of the business. “I presented the idea to the board that we should move more into pet supplies. It was a huge gamble as the majority of our business came from our farming customers but, luckily, it is a gamble that has paid off.” How much of a gamble it really was is debatable of course, for Sion isn’t the sort of chap to jump in without thinking.
inbusiness | 2020 | 17
