sopp+sopp appoints new Operations Director – Meet Nick Thackray
sopp+sopp are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Operations Director, Nick Thackray.
This appointment is a key element in our focus on operational efficiency, and delivering smarter, fleet-tailored solutions for our operator customers.
In this interview, Nick shares his career journey with the business, explores key challenges facing fleet operators in the fast-changing transport sector, and outlines his vision for driving operational performance, service excellence, and further growth at sopp+sopp.
Interview with Nick Thackray:
Tell us about your journey from Head of Customer Operations to Operations Director
Career progression has always happened naturally and felt like the correct next step in my professional development. However, this specific change has been quite a monumental undertaking for me; it’s quite a large step up and a big achievement that I am incredibly proud of.
sopp+sopp introduced an interim operations director roughly 2 years ago as they recognised that the business had some highly talented team members and they wanted to promote internally, there were just some areas of development we needed to focus on to prepare for this level of role. I worked closely with Marie Greenwood and Callum Langan to develop a skills framework, and in that 18-month period, I assessed myself against it and took action that would put me in a position where I was able to meet the criteria for the role.
How do you feel moving into your new role, and why did you pursue it?
Moving into this role is not a position I take lightly; it means a lot to me knowing that the business welcomes internal progression, and that is something I want to carry with me as I undertake the role of operations director. There are so many talented team members at sopp+sopp, and as the business supported me to take on this next phase of my career journey, it’s something I want to ensure I take forward in my role and provide for other people.
The operations director role is a lot larger than my previous head of customer operations position. I used to work very closely with a team of 60, and I now have over 200 people reporting into me, so navigating this large-scale increase has been a challenge. I want to ensure that I do a good job not just for myself, but for everyone who reports into me.
As for why I wanted to pursue this role, I mentioned before that progression is something that has come naturally and always felt like the correct step for me. With this particular move, I wanted to take on a bigger challenge and push myself to keep on growing and moving. This is a huge step forward for me, and I know that it’s a challenge I will be able to take on. On a personal note, I’m also going to be marrying my soon-to-be husband next month. We have life goals that we want to achieve, and I knew that taking this next step would help solidify my position in my career as I move into this new chapter.
What has your career journey been like as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community?
My first exposure to this industry happened when I was 21. I worked in fraud and insurance liability investigations in the motoring trade, and despite being open about who I am, I would still find myself hiding due to the masculine environment. However, as I’ve gotten older, and taken more pride in myself, I have become a lot more comfortable with expressing who I am.
I’m pleased to say I haven’t encountered any prejudice working for Activate Group and sopp+sopp. When you go to forums within the fleet industry, it’s rare to see queer representation, and I appreciate I can only represent gay men, but I’m incredibly proud to be that representation in these spaces. It makes me even more proud to hold this position.
What do you think are some of the biggest challenges Commercial Fleets are facing?
Technological advancements are having a huge impact on all aspects of the fleet industry, from the vehicle repair side, right through to operations.
From an industry standpoint, despite these advancements having beneficial impacts for vehicle technology, we also have to consider the aspect of them causing a higher rate of total losses due to the equipment in vehicles. This can cause challenges when resourcing key parts and working with dealerships to obtain them, leading to a more challenging repair process.
This can prove to be difficult for our fleet customers who want their vehicles repaired and back on the road. Ultimately, we need to take a more creative approach to our collaboration and work together to find alternative solutions.
Technology is having a similar impact from an operational standpoint. We live in a world where AI is always the topic of conversation, and here at sopp+sopp I know that we are not a business wanting to replace our people with artificial intelligence. Our contact centre is a large portion of the organisation, and the work involved requires human empathy; we have to be there on the other side when a driver may have been in a traumatic road traffic incident. As we navigate this new world, we intend to ensure we deploy any AI-powered solutions with the right intentions, finding a way where we can use to them to simplify not just the work of our people, but in a way where we can also do better for our customers.
What do you think makes a high performing operations team in the Fleet industry?
There are two contributing factors to this; understanding the needs of our customers and having the right people in the right place. Ensuring our team members feel valued and supported is a key element for operational excellence, and providing first-class training and maintaining a high level of engagement with the correct tools at our disposal encourages our people to provide the best service possible.
Starting with our implementation team, we ensure we have the correct scoping in place and the right people in those meetings to move forward. For our customer and engineering teams, we want to make sure there’s visibility between the team and their customers so we can get to know them and their needs, and with the flexibility at sopp+sopp, we can provide a bespoke operating model to meet this.
Then we have our 24/7 contact centre that is based entirely in-house. They face many challenges, however Val Sullivan and her management team have done an incredible job to ensure the team have the right tools at the right time to enable them to assist in the best way possible.
What are your main priorities for supporting and developing your team?
Ensuring my team have a combined level of transparency, collaboration, and sharing a clear mutual goal is something that I have always prided myself on. I would like to transfer that into this role and be able to say to my team “here’s the journey and where we’re going, now what are we going to do together, and what are we going to work on to get there?”
In sopp+sopp, there are some incredible leaders from a range of ages and expertise, and I want to continue to hear and learn from them to help our people thrive and develop. That's what I was able to do to help me into this position, and as it worked so well for me, I want to be able to offer that to others who want to progress within the business. I would love to see that drive from management all the way into operational support.
As we continue to strengthen and develop the business, we’re excited about what the future holds under Nick’s leadership. To learn more about our team, click here.