Each week Bristol Business News gives a prominent member of the city’s business community the last word on its weekly e-bulletin. This week Alan Furley, director of ISL Recruitment, answers our 10 questions
What was the LAST:
Film you watched? American Honey. It’s about a group of unloved youngsters working as door-to-door salespeople. A long one, but a fascinating coming-of-age tale set amongst some rather cult-like behaviours. 
Book you read? Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins. It’s about what companies have to do to make sure they don’t just have a good few years then stagnate. It gives you a useful model to think about.
Music you bought/downloaded? It was a Weezer compilation. They’re an American rock band who came on the scene in the 90s. I was going to see them at Wembley Arena with friends and wanted to remind myself of their songs. I loved it – and I’d forgotten how many of their tracks I knew.
Play or concert you went to? Warhorse at the Bristol Hippodrome. I knew my wife really liked it, so I bought tickets as an anniversary present. I thought I’d be chaperoning but I absolutely loved it. I didn’t think I would care about a wooden horse but I got caught up in the emotion.
Sporting event you attended? The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars playing Baltimore Ravens at Wembley in September. In the end Jacksonville ended up giving Baltimore a bit of a thrashing, but with 53 players on each team you really got to see how much it mattered to each of them, as they came off and threw off their helmets or sat looking glum. The team organisation alone was amazing.
Holiday you went on? Three nights at Watergate Bay Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, with my wife and some friends. We went there in March and booked again straight away. It’s lovely there – great beaches, free childcare so we could have some downtime and it’s next to Fifteen, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant. We’ll be going back I’m sure.
Restaurant you ate in? Adelina Yard on Welshback in Bristol last week. We took some of the top performers at ISL out for drinks and some nice food. There’s some weird and wonderful stuff on the menu (including Jerusalem artichoke pudding!) which makes the whole experience more fun. It was the team who really wanted to go there, and it was a great call.
Thing that annoyed you? Our roofers at home. I won’t say too much because it’ll swiftly become unprintable, but if I tell you this is the third time they’ve been around and this has been going on for five years then perhaps you’ll understand if I’m annoyed.
Thing that made you laugh out loud? My three-year-old son. We were walking in Leigh Woods when we came across a rock he’d tripped up on the last time he’d been there. He said: “This is where mummy dropped me on the rock!” Obviously I filmed it. I don’t know who was telling the truth but it can’t be both of them!
Piece of good advice you were given? It’s an ongoing lesson really – that you need to listen to different voices, rather than rely on your own technical skills to see you through. It’s tempting to think “Well… I’m successful at what I’m doing, so that must mean I know how to create a businesses doing what I’m doing.” In fact we only started growing after we brought in consultants to help us think like leaders, not just recruiters.
Alan Furley is the director of Bristol-based national recruitment firm ISL. Alan has built the business over the past 10 years alongside founder Henry Keeys with a people-first approach. This paid dividends in 2017 as the company was named among the UK’s Great Places to Work in the small business category. In his spare time he loves a good glass of red and playing football with his son – though not necessarily in that order.
