Andrea Grace

During this period, I took time out of paid employment to care for my autistic son who is now 6 and second child who is 20 months. This involved:

• Navigating complex Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and associated documentation

• Liaising and negotiating with local authorities, schools, and healthcare providers to secure appropriate support

• Advocating effectively to ensure my child’s needs were met, including finding a suitable school placement

• Developing strong organisational, communication, and problem-solving skills in high-pressure situations

• Fundraising for Dingleys Promise nursery who provides life changing support to under 5's with special educational needs and disabilities

• This experience has strengthened my resilience, attention to detail, and ability to manage challenging situations — all skills I bring to my next role.

• Company Overview: Market leader in online trade services and events for the Promotional Merchandise Industry
• Presenting a catalogue of services to new and existing clients
• Collating and presenting a range of reports which illustrates the performance of each suppliers competitors to encourage additional spend
• Targeting new prospects to continually grow and develop client base
• Performing online and face to face demos
• Creating marketing plans designed to increase sales revenue, percentage of the market share and maximise clients exposure on the site
• Executes monthly client review meetings to analyse performance and marketing activity
• Organising, selling exhibition space and attending the UK’s largest Promotional Merchandise Show which is held twice a year
• Attending networking events throughout the year including European shows to generate new prospects and build relationships with existing customers
• Achieve and exceeds monthly, annually and quarterly targets which reflects new business acquisition, advertising sales and event sales

• Company Overview: World Class marketing execution providing the link between our customers and their customers supply chains.
• Sole Link Manager for Proctor and Gamble UK and Europe
• Primary responsibility to achieve monthly sales target; personal responsibility to exceed monthly sales target
• Provided creative premium solutions for P&G across a variety of brands including Max Factor, Duracell, Gillette, Pampers, Braun, Always, Olay and Wella
• Working innovatively with the design team to create effective concepts and ideas
• Presenting new products and ideas at monthly client meetings within the UK and the central hub in Geneva
• Evaluating live briefs
• Working closely with Sales Support network in Hong Kong, maintaining constant communication on all live projects
• Keeping relevant global Account Managers fully updated and sharing new orders to enable other markets to add on
• Producing accurate costing for customers to meet their specification, lead time and budget
• Liaising directly with factories and merchandisers to secure best prices and product diversity
• Following up on all quotations and projects with customers
• Training global Account Managers on P&G compliance procedures
• Producing critical paths and managing supply chain to ensure key dates are met, working closely with logistics and the merchandise team
• Assured timely delivery of products and services to meet customer expectations.
• Monitored competitor activity, staying ahead in the market competition.
• Resolved client issues promptly, ensuring high levels of satisfaction.
• Managed business relationships to ensure loyalty and long-term commitment.

• Company Overview: Europe's leading independent full service provider of promotional merchandise and fulfilment solutions.
• Providing creative solutions for specific requirements and adhering to strict brand guidelines
• Working with the in house design team to develop innovative product ideas
• Attending client meetings and offering constructive suggestions carefully aligned to the remit of the brief
• Gaining potential customers by targeting and cold calling new prospects
• Maintaining existing client accounts by gaining trust and building relationships
• Maximising client spend, facilitating and encouraging client’s return
• Following up quotations on a within a ‘one day’ timeframe
• Enabling extremely competitive pricing of products through diligent research; achieving maximum profit for the company
• Sourcing products and liaising daily with the Far East, sourcing products and obtaining costs

• Company Overview: One of the top 2% of promotional Merchandise distributors in the UK
• Developing and maximising relationships with existing client base
• Building new business relationships through cold calling & research, creating new business opportunities
• Daily liaison with the Far East, sourcing products and obtaining costs
• Maintaining and updating client database
• Producing creative and relevant solutions to meet client briefs, within budget and lead time
• Exploring innovative product ideas suitable for the general market and specific clients
• Representing company at Trade shows and exhibitions
• Managing company interns and delegating relevant duties

• Sourcing Promotional gifts and product solutions
• Developing and maximising relationships with existing client base
• Building new business relationships and opportunities through cold calling & research
• Established strong rapport with clients through regular communication.
• Assured timely delivery of products and services to meet customer expectations.

• Company overview: OKA is a high end Interiors company bringing truly unique designs from the East to interior lovers in the West.
• Within the 4 years working for OKA I was promoted twice.
• Sole responsibility for managing all Trade and VIP account customers
• Providing first point of contact and a personal, bespoke, attentive service for premium customers
• Offering design advice over the phone or on location
• Processing orders on Pro-forma or account bases
• Coordinating payment, invoicing all VIP Customers, sending monthly statements and ensuring correct payment terms are adhered to
• Liaising with all departments and showrooms ensuring relevant information is communicated at all times
• Providing an attentive and personal aftercare service

• Supervising and training a Customer Services team
• Managing all customer complaints, resolving any customer concerns efficiently and reassuringly
• Monitoring and reporting call statistics and service levels
• Offering information on materials and giving interior advice appropriate to each individual customer’s needs
• Providing and consolidating feedback from customers, facilitating improvements to our service where necessary
• Processing postal orders, faxes and emails for UK and overseas exports