Claire Ratcliffe
South Shields
Summary
Extensive experience in administration and customer service across diverse sectors such as sales, retail, hospitality, and management. Demonstrated ability to prioritize complex workloads and consistently meet strict deadlines while ensuring high levels of organization and efficiency. Strong interpersonal skills enhance effective communication and teamwork, with a flexible approach to problem-solving and adaptability to new challenges. Proven capability to work independently or collaboratively, utilizing common sense and reasoning to drive results.
Overview
35
35
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work history
Pre-employment Administrator
Sora Services
Hebburn
01.2020 - Current
- I am currently working as a Pre-employment Administrator. My duties include but are not limited to the following;
- Coordinate office activities and operations to secure efficiency and compliance of company policies
- Check learners eligibility and record information for reporting
- Manage sign-ups for new learner cohorts throughout the north east on a weekly basis and process paperwork
- Register learners for qualifications and claim Certificates in a timely manner
- Track learners progress following training
- Collate all learner information on office database and ensure all trackers are updated
- Create and update records for all new candidates/learners
- Track stock of office supplies and place orders when necessary
- Assist colleagues whenever necessary
Trainer Assessor/Mentor/Induction Coordinator
Nordic Focus Training group
Darlington
05.2014 - 11.2016
- I was a Mentor to all the Apprentices we had on program. This meant I contact each learner on a weekly basis and offered them guidance and support through the first 12 weeks of their Apprenticeship. I also liaised with the employer to ensure that they were happy with the progress their apprentice was making and offered them support through the early stages of the process.
- I have taken part in classroom delivery for Employability courses. I found the interaction with the learners and seeing them progress within such a short space of time very rewarding.
- Since passing my TAQA in May 2014 I gained my own caseload of learners/apprentices as well as continuing with my Mentor and PAA roles.
- Redundancy due to company going into liquidation
Induction Co-ordinator
Focus Training and Development Ltd (NFTG)
Darlington
02.2013 - 05.2014
- Organise and conduct inductions with new learners. My key responsibilities are:
- To ensure the learners are aware of Safeguarding, Health and Safety and Equality and diversity.
- To introduce the learner to the qualification; outlining the mandatory units and explaining that they will be able to work with the assessor to tailor make their learning by choosing from the optional units which best match their job role.
- To make sure the learner is aware of the time scale of their qualification and when to expect first contact from the assessor.
- I invigilate the initial Literacy and Numeracy assessments.
- I sit with each individual learner and ask them what progression they would like to see in their future and discuss how we can get them to that point.
- I work with the learner to complete a learning styles profile to determine how they best take in new information. This is a helpful tool for the assessor so they can see how the individual prefers to learn. This means they can adapt their style to suit the learner.
- Ensuring the learner is fully aware of the appeals procedure.
- I liaise with the business development team and corporate services to progress the learner’s paperwork through from sales to delivery of their qualification by the assessor.
- I also liaise with the assessors to make sure they are aware of any information relating to the learner for example, Initial assessment results and any additional learning support they may need.
Receptionist
Cooper BMW Sunderland
East Boldon
02.2012 - 02.2013
- I was the first port of contact either by phone or face to face for all customers who are requiring assistance in purchasing, servicing and parts. My other responsibilities included organisation and filing of job cards and paperwork from our servicing department, also ensuring that the relevant invoices were updated and filed to correspond with the customers and their relevant vehicles.
- As a part of our aftersales initiative I was also involved with the customers taking them through an online survey to determine how well we had met their expectations. This information was then collaborated and fed back to the employees to gauge performance.
Customer assistant (Fixed term)
Marks and Spencer, Newcastle
Newcastle
11.2011 - 01.2012
- Working for Marks and Spencer gave me valuable customer facing experience after being on a career break. It gave me valuable experience dealing with the public and helped rebuild my confidence which enabled me to get back into permanent employment.
- Processing customer transactions
- Deliver excellent customer service
- Spotting customer needs and taking them to the product that best suits their requirements
- Upholding brand standards
Homemaker
01.2006 - 11.2011
- Utilised strong organisational skills to manage household tasks and support family, preparing for a seamless transition back into employment.
Sales Coordinator
Sytner, Head office, Leicester
Leicester, Leicestershire
01.2000 - 01.2006
- Answering the telephone and dealing with customer queries
- Data entry
- Underwriting finance for vehicles
- Drawing up customer finance documents
- Mediating between customers and finance company
- Facilitating payments between the finance company and the car dealership
- Handling large business accounts and meeting the needs of large organisations
- Ensuring that customer orders were accurate and dealt with in a timely fashion
Hotel Receptionist
Premier Inn, Leicester
Leicester
01.1999 - 01.2000
- I was in charge of running a busy hotel reception desk which involved taking care of check-in's and departures for all guests. Additional duties involved:
- Answering the telephone and taking bookings for the hotel
- Data entry
- Taking restaurant bookings
- Running reports for housekeeping
- Serving breakfasts
Deputy Manager
Horse and hounds – Premier Inn
Leicester
01.1991 - 01.1999
- As part of my duties as deputy manager I was responsible for the day to day running of the business including staff training and inductions of new starters. Maintaining the high standards of customer service not only front of house but overall quality of food presentation and timely service from the kitchen was paramount to the business and therefore a major part of my day to day duties. In the absence of the general manager I would also have the added responsibilities of the financial aspects and the overall duty of care to the staff.
Education
Level 2 Information, advice or guidance. - Public Relations
TQUK
06.2026
Level 2 - Understanding Autism
TQUK
06.2025
NVQ Level 3 - Certificate in assessing vocational achievement.
NCFE
05.2014 -
Functional skills - Maths
NCFE
06.2014
Function skills - English
NCFE
05.2014
City and Guilds Hotel Reception Diploma - Hospitality Administration and Management
High Peak College
Derbyshire 01.1989 - 1 1991
GCSEs -
John Flamsteed Comprehensive
Derbyshire 01.1984 - 1 1989
Skills
- Effective multitasking
- Leadership in teams
- Relationship management
- Microsoft Office applications
- Assessment and Training (TAQA)
- Student guidance
Certification
- Recently gained my TAQA Assessors award (Business Admin).
- Recently achieved my Functional skills Math L1 and English L1 &2.
- Mentor to Apprentice’s. (16-18yr olds). This role supports both the learner and the employer in the early days of the Apprenticeship. My role is to be there to make sure that both parties are happy and if there are any areas of concern I am able to mediate and provide support to bring things to a positive outcome.
- Personal Advancement advisor – (Calderdale College approved). This role is to support and track the progression of the learners that are on a Calderdale Contract with us. This requires contacting them during their learning and tracking them afterwards for six months to see how they are and if they have progressed into other employment or promoted within their current organisation.
- As part of my job I also attend delivery team meetings once a month. This keeps me up to date on team issues and fully informed on new protocol for paperwork/procedures
- Quarterly I attend a full staff meeting which keeps me informed on business performance and the direction we are heading in the future.
- I have attended and successfully completed Safeguarding training.
- Test invigilation - I am able to conduct online and paper based tests for our assessor’s learners.
- Business Development – I have spent a number of months within our Business Development Department going out to companies and explaining the qualifications we offer and the benefits of Apprenticeships.
Additional information
- Full UK driving license with own transport
- References available on request
Timeline
Pre-employment Administrator
Sora Services
01.2020 - Current
Trainer Assessor/Mentor/Induction Coordinator
Nordic Focus Training group
05.2014 - 11.2016
NVQ Level 3 - Certificate in assessing vocational achievement.
NCFE
05.2014 -
Induction Co-ordinator
Focus Training and Development Ltd (NFTG)
02.2013 - 05.2014
Receptionist
Cooper BMW Sunderland
02.2012 - 02.2013
Customer assistant (Fixed term)
Marks and Spencer, Newcastle
11.2011 - 01.2012
Homemaker
01.2006 - 11.2011
Sales Coordinator
Sytner, Head office, Leicester
01.2000 - 01.2006
Hotel Receptionist
Premier Inn, Leicester
01.1999 - 01.2000
Deputy Manager
Horse and hounds – Premier Inn
01.1991 - 01.1999
City and Guilds Hotel Reception Diploma - Hospitality Administration and Management
High Peak College
01.1989 - 1 1991
GCSEs -
John Flamsteed Comprehensive
01.1984 - 1 1989
Level 2 Information, advice or guidance. - Public Relations
TQUK
Level 2 - Understanding Autism
TQUK
Functional skills - Maths
NCFE
Function skills - English
NCFE