I N T E RV I E W Russell Start, Group Managing Director at AGM I love the international industry and AGM Group has a bigger portion of its focus on international, which hits that spot for me sizeable forwarding business. All new starters spent the first two weeks in the post room, to get a feel for the place, says Start, and, on my third day, the General Manager of the removal division needed some filing doing; he called the post room and I was dispatched. I sometimes wonder where Id have ended up if the GM of a different division needed their filing sorting that week. JOINING PICKFORDS Start stayed with the company for five years and not just in filing, he adds before joining Pickfords in 1987. I was ambitious and wanted to stay in the removal industry, he says, and Pickfords had started a management development programme, which I thought would help me grow. I stayed at Pickfords for 16 years doing various roles in and around the international moving department. It was here that I started attending international industry conferences, which I really enjoyed, eventually becoming General Manager International. Then, in 2003, Start was given the tremendous opportunity to help shape the newly formed TEAM Relocations business in the UK, following the Trans Euro and Amertrans merger. 38 FF297 JunJul20 pp36-41 Russell Start Interview.indd 38 I was at TEAM for seven very enjoyable years, experiencing a different angle and perspective to the international moving industry, which I loved, he says, plus learning about DSP provision and relocation management. Start served as Managing Director of TEAMs UK moving business before being asked to leave the business and return to Pickfords, to become its Managing Director in January 2010. This was following the acquisition of the company from SIRVA and Kevin Pickford moving back to Australia. AGM GROUP Having spent 16 (mostly) enjoyable years at Pickfords before, I felt like I was going home, says Start. He remained at the company until the summer of 2017, when he received a call from Paul Evans asking him to join the development of AGM Group. It was an offer too good to miss, he says, and in August 2018, after a years wellpublicised garden leave, he joined AGM Group as Group Managing Director. Start says its difficult to compare his experience at Pickfords and AGM Group, as they are very different companies, with different drivers and target markets. I love the international industry and AGM Group WWW. F I D I . OR G 01/06/2020 15:03