Welcome to our monthly series Meet the Team, where we spotlight the extraordinary people that make Bayley & Sage so special. This month’s feature is on Arvydas, our amazing handyman. Read the full interview below!
1. How long have you been working at Bayley & Sage and what different roles have you held within the company? What is your role now?
I’ve been working for Bayley & Sage for 3.5 years. My role is the handyman and my job is to maintain all of the company sites – the stores, the DC, and the CPU – to ensure everything is running smoothly.
2. What’s your favourite thing about working at Bayley & Sage?
I like all the people in the company, everyone helps to create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere. The simple answer is that I enjoy being here.
3. Who or what has inspired you the most throughout your career?
I think what inspires me and motivates me is that I’ve always been hungry for new knowledge and love learning new skills.
4. Have you always worked in this industry? If not, what other types of roles have you held?
This is my first experience in the food industry. I started my career after graduating from university in Lithuania in the construction industry, and continued for several years in different roles. After the Soviet Union collapsed it was a tough few years, so I came to the UK and continued to work in construction and maintenance.
5. What’s the best advice you could give someone who’s just starting out in their career?
Never stop and always look forward, and if you meet difficulties never look for excuses but instead for ways to overcome them.
6. What are some of the accomplishments you’re most proud of?
Since starting at Bayley & Sage I’ve learned a lot in areas I wasn’t familiar before, including fixing some pieces of equipment which I would never have imagined that I could, which I’m very proud of!
7. What are you most looking forward to this year, both personally and professionally?
In my 3.5 years at Bayley & Sage I’ve experienced the biggest expansion of the company as we opened new stores at Belgravia, Kensington and Marylebone, so I look forward to see what’s to come. Personally I’m looking forward to watching my grandson grow up.
8. If you could only eat one thing from Bayley & Sage for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
That would have to be the Gruyère Surchoix cheese, my whole family likes it. And when I’m visiting my son’s family in Germany the “must have“ gift is this cheese. If I’m at our Parsons store and I say I’m going to visit my son, they already know what cheese I will buy.
9. How do you spend your time when you’re not at Bayley & Sage?
As I now live in countryside, I like to get outside for walks in the parks and woods (sometimes foraging). I also have new addiction – gardening. Not on a big scale, just around the house. An interesting fact is that my wife is now growing our own tomatoes using the seeds extracted from tomatoes I bought at Bayley & Sage! We’re experimenting with different varieties to find the most favourable.
10. What’s one interesting fact that we might not know about you?
All my life I’ve enjoyed sports. I played basketball in my youth and even played in South Kent’s amateur basketball league some 17-18 years ago. Now, after a 9 year break, I decided to return to my other favourite sport – Alpine skiing. In January I went skiing in the French alps and managed to come back in one piece, so now I can’t wait to go again.