Episode 33

Moving Matters with Chris Magee of CrissCross Removals

00:00:00
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00:40:58

November 11th, 2021

40 mins 58 secs

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About this Episode

In this episode Chris Magee, Managing Director of CrissCross Removals & Storage of Belfast discusses how he began as a man and van 5 years ago (buying and selling furniture from Gumtree and Facebook), before branching into Removals & Storage in mid-2019, citing that he wanted to compete on service rather than just price.

We discover that today CrissCross Removals & Storage primarily undertake domestic household removals, house clearances, packing services, man and van services and provide storage.

We discuss challenges, where Chris states that they are daily and never ending as the industry is very time sensitive, but Chris’s biggest challenge was lack of preparation in 2019 when his one and only van broke down, taking 4 weeks to get a replacement part!

We discover that the changes Chris would make from his past would be to start by building a great team rather than building everything yourself, and to let go of his ego early in business.

We discuss Chris’s highpoint, and it is the creation of a great local business in such a short space of time, especially the team he has assembled, which we discuss in more detail.

We discover the change Chris would make to the moving industry and it is the barrier to entry to keep professional standards up, even though Chris is being totally hypocritical as this is how he started, as have many others in the industry. Chris suggests that maybe there is a requirement for a qualification that allows you to undertake removals.

We discuss that Chris is undertaking his HGV (as too is his General Manager) and CPC because he wants to grow the business further and start overseas work.

We discover that the advice Chris would give himself just starting in the industry again is to hire quickly, hire properly and don’t be afraid of the financial hit.

We discuss where Chris see’s himself and the industry in the next 5 years, and Chris wants further growth with the business, trucks going across the water, increase in storage, bigger trucks for local moves, and to make CrissCross Removals & Storage the ‘go to’ company in Northern Ireland. Industry wise Chris sees heavy investment within autonomous trucks (and I ask with the possibility of autonomous trucks how will that affect anyone wanting to become an HGV driver where the role may then no exist in 10-15 years’ time), and as modern-day life is social media Chris believes this is where you will need to invest in growing your brand.

We discover that outside of the industry Chris has a lot of hobbies, he is a fellow podcaster (The C Magee Show), has a massive passion for Boxing and is hugely into health and fitness.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story, regarding a very challenging day where a wheel fell off a van!

Enjoy!

Links to CrissCross Removals: