Gillian Baldwin

In my current role, I am the first point of contact for customers, students, practitioners and delegates, ensuring every interaction is professional, welcoming and supportive. I work in a fast-paced and demanding customer service environment and understand that my role plays a key part in upholding the Academy’s reputation for professionalism and excellence.
I work closely with colleagues, trainers, clinicians, customers and patients to support the smooth day-to-day running of the Academy. I resolve enquiries and concerns promptly and effectively, while maintaining strict confidentiality when handling sensitive or personal information. I place a strong emphasis on creating a positive customer experience, building trust, and ensuring high levels of satisfaction and repeat engagement.
I am confident managing a varied and demanding workload and am comfortable communicating both over the telephone and face to face. I remain calm, organised and approachable at all times, even during busy periods, and consistently deliver a high standard of customer service.

In 2010, I was appointed as a Director of the Chamber of Commerce, following an invitation from the Chief Executive. This appointment recognised my experience as the Founder of SpaceWorld Playcentre and my active involvement within Knowsley Chamber of Commerce.
As a Director, I worked closely with the Chief Executive and fellow Board members to support the strategic direction of the Chamber and to promote strong, customer-focused leadership. Through this role, I gained valuable insight into strategic decision-making, stakeholder engagement and effective leadership, learning from an experienced and highly regarded Chief Executive and Board team.
One of my key contributions was strengthening community and business partnerships and increasing member engagement by supporting the delivery of responsive, professional and people-centred services. I was actively involved in engaging with members, understanding business challenges, and contributing to problem-solving and conflict resolution where required.
I thoroughly enjoyed the role, as it aligned strongly with my personal values of collaboration, relationship-building and supporting business development within the local community. Alongside my Director responsibilities, I successfully balanced attendance at member meetings while running my own start-up business, demonstrating flexibility, strong time management and commitment at a strategic level.

As the Managing Director I was responsible for the delivery of operations across the board for creating a safe and welcoming environment for children while ensuring parents and carers felt confident informed and well looked after. My role included being the main point of contact for customer services in a very fast paced environment dealing with enquiries, bookings and feed back in a friendly and professional manner. I also ensured that myself and my team provided exceptional customer experiences from start to finish including birthday parties and group events. On a day to day basis I continually led by example setting high standards in my interactions with customers and staff. I built positive relationships with regular customers and callers. I managed front desk operations, including admissions, calls, payments and diary scheduling. During this time I demonstrated strong communication and interpersonal skills. It was my patience empathy and confidence that often resolved any issues or complaints that arose. It was a strength of mine to stay calm and composed in a fast paced and noisy environment.

When I left Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, I was based at Merton House within the Finance Department, which formed part of the Education Department and later merged with Children’s Services. In this role, I was responsible for managing financial budgets and the accurate distribution of petty cash to service users within Children’s Services.
I was required to respond to enquiries efficiently, professionally and with a calm, positive manner, while consistently delivering a high standard of customer service. I supported Finance Managers and the Administration team within a busy office environment and was trusted to work independently, using my own initiative with minimal supervision.
A key part of the role involved following financial guidelines and procedures, applying them accurately and appropriately. I developed strong attention to detail and a clear understanding of the importance of accuracy when monitoring budgets and issuing payments. I also worked with sensitive financial information and understood the critical importance of confidentiality, data protection and GDPR compliance.
During my time with Sefton MBC, I worked across several departments, beginning as an agency worker in Technical Services before moving into a customer service role on the main switchboard as services transitioned to a digital platform. I later progressed into Finance and then the Education Department, which merged with Children’s Services. This breadth of experience gave me a strong, practical understanding of council services, processes and cross-departmental working.

In my role as Cabin Crew, I operated on both short-haul and long-haul routes, working within a highly regulated and safety-critical environment. I successfully completed an intensive six-week training programme to gain my wings, covering aircraft safety and emergency procedures, first aid, regulatory compliance and customer service excellence.
Passenger, crew and aircraft safety were always my highest priority. Alongside this, I consistently delivered a high standard of customer service, ensuring passengers felt comfortable, supported and well cared for throughout their journey. I took pride in providing a positive experience for all passengers, whether travelling in Economy or Business Class, and was always willing to go the extra mile to meet individual needs.
I maintained a professional and responsible approach at all times, both onboard and down-route, representing the airline positively in all situations. I successfully completed mandatory annual Safety, Equipment and Procedures training, delivered through a combination of online learning and classroom-based assessments, ensuring full compliance with aviation regulations.
The role required a high level of flexibility, adaptability and resilience, including working irregular hours, long shifts and across different time zones, while consistently maintaining performance, professionalism and customer focus.