Vicky

My background is in finance. I left school at 16 and got an office job at a building services company where I handled purchase ledgers, which introduced me to finance. However, there was little opportunity to grow, so I decided to leave, and ended up going into various roles with a lot of different experiences. When I wanted to settle, I was fortunate enough to be offered a position working in finance at Bezier, a printing company based in Wakefield. This gave me real exposure to the world of business and how money works. And this exposure led to a promotion to Finance Manager. My involvement with Bellrock unofficially started in 2014 when I joined B38Group, which was bought out by Bellrock a couple of years ago.

I joined B38 as a Finance Manager, so like many other people in the FM sector, I stumbled into it, somewhat. After five years or so, I transitioned into an Internal Operations Manager role, where I was responsible for internal operations such as planning, helpdesk, and minor works. It was firefighting in many respects. Over the next couple of years, we got the company into a much better place, so much so that it was sold to Bellrock. Since then, I’ve been working as an Account Manager on six accounts handling various situations, including recently covering a colleague on maternity leave. It’s been full on!

While working in the senior leadership team at B38, I was one of only two women. Sometimes I felt as though we were surrounded by male colleagues who were headstrong and reluctant to embrace the changes that we suggested. Confidence is key, and if you have the right work ethic, that confidence will stem from it. You’ve got to be persistent and go in with a can-do attitude, have a plan B if necessary, and prove yourself with actions. If you work hard and deliver, you should be able to rise to the top and be recognised. 

Another challenge I found is that when there are management changes, you have to go through that process of building up your reputation again and again. It can be daunting at times, but you just have to keep going.

Don’t be afraid or hesitate to go out and seek support. There are things I struggle with, such as presenting in front of people, and now I’m getting some help on how to do it better. 

I want others to open up, because sometimes just a small gesture or piece of advice can go a long way. Recently I reached out to a very bright young woman starting out in our team who needed a shot of confidence. She has great ideas, and I want her to feel confident in herself. Men in a similar position are often a bit more forceful in sharing their thoughts, so I offered to give her advice either through a quick chat or even on Teams.