CN meets a firefighter turned teambuilder down in the West Country
A former firefighter from Bath is drawing on his old skills to help douse the flames of conflict in the workplace and help create more productive teams.
Mark Fanning first learnt the value of teamwork in the fire service, where lives depended on it. Fanning saved a boy from a burning building when working as a retained firefighter in the 1990s.
After leaving the service and pursuing a career in sales, he has come to head Bristol-based ACF Teambuilding and Events, where he uses his past experience to create testing challenges for clients.
“Trust and effective communication are so important in the fire service as it can mean the difference between life and death,” Fanning says.
“Just as in a fire station emergencies arise, situations come up in a business in which a team must pull together.
“Effective teambuilding helps reduce conflict and increase collaboration. This means more engaged and productive employees. It’s good for the office atmosphere – and bottom line.”
As well as insights into firefighting, Fanning also offers samba drumming, driving and shooting packages at his Aldwick Court Farm and Vineyard base. And his team also carries out psychometric assessments to better understand members of clients’ teams and how they can work to their strengths.
After ACF Hospitality business owner, Chris Watts, tragically died in a helicopter crash in 2011, aged 45, Fanning took over the business in 2012 and has developed and renamed it ACF Teambuilding and Events going on to become preferred suppliers to many venues in the South West and South Wales.
“I get to work with a massive toy shed, a team I call my friends and I see visitors leave with a smile on their face. I love it.”
