What’s in the name?
Arrowstream was the name my late father used for his business for as long as I can remember. His name was Trevor and although he wasn’t an analyst or even any good with Excel, he was someone who could turn his hand to anything practical.
Like the ingenious person he was, he had trained himself in diverse skills: from becoming a chef to then being a window fitter, a heating installer and a general construction go-to-guy. He had an uncanny ability to know if something was not straight. He’d point at something across the room and go “that’s pi$$ed”. No one else saw it but if you got the tape measure and spirit level out then true to his word he was right.
At 8 years old he got me doing oil changes on his H reg Ford Escort van. We must have been doing it right up until it clocked up over 333,000 miles by the time it was sold. In ’94 the family car was a Renault Espace. An ugly red thing, but seeing as my little brother had just been born, a big ugly car is a necessary evil that many parents have to resign to owning.
The Renault oil change was trickier than the Escort. The oil drum nut needed a square Allan key. Undeterred by the tool not being available in his tool kit, we spent the rest of the day making a square Allan key. We were successful. A bit of metal grinding and a bit of trial and error, and we made the snug tool which we used every time after that.
Dad was never phased by problems and instead he embraced them. Some of his ideas were a bit off-the-wall but he got stuff done and I fondly remember the banter of trying to solve the next challenge that faced us. Growing up with such a positive mindset, I feel his uncompromising problem solving attitude, his creative ideas, and need for perfection in his work was the greatest gift he instilled in me.
In October 2019 Dad’s lung cancer got the better of him and he passed away with me by his side.
After he died I had the job of closing his business down, selling his tools and making his loyal staff redundant. When the final payments were made I felt sad that the Arrowstream name would also disappear.
He came up with the name Arrowstream all those years ago because it was a generic word and could mean anything to anyone, which well suited his approach to finding work. While finding the voice for my own company, I have realised that applying it to my future in analysis and problem-solving now seems fitting, and a way to give continuity to my dad’s legacy.
Andrew Le Breuilly
Andrew has over 15 years of experience working in Data Visualisation and Market Research. He has worked on some of the most complex surveys and has delivered 200+ Tableau dashboards for clients. He holds the Market Research Advanced Certificate and has a passion for delivering high quality, visually appealing survey analysis.