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Overview
Work history
Education
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Lorraine Williams

Kingswinford,West Midlands

Summary

PROFILE ,Dedicated and organised Operations Manager and effective leader with over 20 years of experience using proven planning and support initiatives to cut costs, streamline operations and increase productivity. Decisive and resourceful team builder versed in sales, management and process improvement. Possess in-depth industry trend knowledge and shifts to offer valuable insights on opportunities for new growth and business expansion. Effective and loyal cross-functional communicator and problem solver seeking to leverage background into operations or fleet industry with growing organisation.

Strategic planner and operational leader with strong background improving performance, productivity, efficiency and profitability of departmental and organisational operations. Practiced in providing assorted teams with support and resources to succeed.

Professional project management specialist with experience working with teams to accomplish short- and long-term project goals. Managed budgets and monitored project costs.

Overview

42
42
years of professional experience

Work history

Operations Manager

ParcelHub Ltd
Birmingham, West Midlands
09.2022 - 09.2023
  • Overall management responsibility for currently 15 members of staff which is split between a supervisor, drivers, and forklift/warehouse operatives
  • The unit opened its doors for the first time in September of last year, so I had the accountability of implementing the Whistl infrastructure through project management from the ground up.
  • My role as an operations manager is to ensure the daily collections are performed from both commercial and residential places of work Monday - Friday using a fleet of Electric vehicles and 3.5t vans.
  • Adhered to employee relations processes while recruiting, retaining and developing staff.
  • Analysed financial data to track and achieve budget targets.
  • Drove performance while managing and maintaining customer expectations, quality standards and SLAs.
  • I am fully skilled in administrative procedures all paperwork was kept digitally on a shared drive so visible to necessary departments.
  • Partnered with internal teams to develop new operating opportunities to enhance service delivery.
  • Monitored and reviewed operational performance, aiding improved business strategy to maximise productivity.
  • Aided senior leadership by recommending corrective actions and improvements to company operations.
  • Reduced costs and improved operations by analysing processes and customer feedback.
  • Minimised discrepancies by effectively training employees on best practices, policies and procedures.
  • Developed, recommended and implemented strategies to improve employee work quality and speed.
  • Cut company operating budgets through improved staffing, resourcing and inventory management.
  • Responsible for fleet management ensuring all vehicles are maintained to be road legal, taking the vehicle off the road if repair is necessary. On a daily basis my supervisor alongside staff signing for their vehicle would perform compliance checks to ensure no damage had occurred to any of the fleet.
  • Noted employee absences and grievances, and improved team development and performance with right training.
  • I implemented training for all staff using Whistl databases for all areas of their roles, driving assessments, FLT training, first aid training, fire marshals, health, and safety, COSHH training for dangerous items, training them to use an internal system that they have to use to access training packages on throughout the year.
  • I was fully trained to route plan all of the collections planned within the depot using a system called Parragon. I had the ability to change delivery routes, add new customers, change vehicles and drivers, vehicles off the road for maintenance or service, staff either on leave, sick leave or left the business, This system allowed me to add additional collections on an ad hoc basis if a customer needed a one off collection or required a different time from there agreed SLA. I also had the ability to move collections from route to route if necessary to ensure a balanced workload if within a workable distance.
  • I worked with account managers ensuring we have the capacity on the vehicles to meet volume, I can manage the load of each vehicle to ensure we have the correct space for customer needs also to ensure the route is profitable.
  • Increased department profitability by reducing operations costs.
  • Analysed operations data to identify process gaps and successfully implement change. using Parragon route system .Worked constructively with sales team generating new business opportunities and supporting company growth.
  • Worked constructively with sales team generating new business opportunities and supporting company growth.
  • Analysed operations data to identify process gaps and successfully implement change.
  • I must ensure that if there are any instances of not meeting collection times, I have the autonomy to problem solve to ensure we have consistent working alternatives not to fail client database
  • I believe in a first-class customer service through communication, teamwork and efficiency which is only achievable through knowing the expectations of your company
  • Served as key corporate representative, liaising with various stakeholders in support of operational excellence.
  • As the depot is still in its infancy, I am involved in plans going forward that involve growth such as how to capture new business, where there are gaps to ensure we are fully maximised for my staff when out on the road performing their routes

Delivery Office Manager

Royal Mail Group
Dudley, West Midlands
01.2006 - 05.2022
  • Managed 30 to 158 -employee office, supervising workers, enhancing productivity and driving efficiency.
  • Reduced an inherent 2500 hour annual leave carry over to zero through excellent planning using staff planning tool, agreeing leave ceiling with union representative.
  • Coordinated and maintained impressive office organisation to keep facilities efficient, organised and professional.
  • Completed orientations to integrate new staff to company systems and culture.
  • 12% reduction in complaints by interacting with customers professionally by phone, email or in-person to provide information and direct queries to appropriate staff members.
  • Trained and mentored staff to drive performance and target achievement.
  • Enhanced productivity of managers by providing expert administrative support.
  • Handled conflicts and complaints with strong problem-solving and mediation skills.
  • Reduced high levels of sick from over 33% down to 3% using HR, Royal Mail attendance procedures, sick attendance coach and Occupational Health Assist.
  • Recognised by Delivery Sector Manager for achieving zero Road Traffic Accidents and Accidents on Delivery over a 36-month period
  • Consulted with senior management to develop operational enhancements, streamline processes and increase team performance.
  • Conduct and Attendance trained to stage 1 and 2 undertaking in informal and formal fact finding interviews, trained in one to one mediation meetings to try to prevent formal proceedings
  • Collaborated and clearly communicated across teams to achieve consistent service delivery.
  • Encouraged a female member of staff to attend The Springboard programme for advancement for women
  • Conducted risk assessments to reach regulatory compliance and promote staff health and safety.
  • Respected leader of people who has delivered change which has given financial benefits to the company successfully
  • Project managed structural change through engagement with the CWU Managed projects within strict deadlines and budget constraints.
  • Evaluated personnel performance to complete development reviews, addressing concerns and making progress recommendations.
  • Organised physical files and digitised records to ensure ease of accessibility and retrieval by team members.

Postwoman
01.2000 - 01.2006

Technical Sales Engineer

Thyssen Mannesmann Ltd
01.1999 - 01.2000
  • Employed to increase sales of hydraulic tube, stainless tube, boiler tube and other tubular products using stock based in the company whilst outsourcing non stocked products
  • Introduced companies based in the UK, Europe, America, China and Russia supplying non-standard high-grade material to increase a greater client base therefore offering a greater range of products to customers.
  • Through studying customer base, their previous requirements, and visitations to clients built a database of materials to include in stock range to increase profitable sales and offer a wider choice for our regular customers
  • Managed and interpreted needs of clients to cultivate productive working relationships.
  • Secured sole rights to supply to the UK Hydraulic Tube from a firm in Austria allowing us to turn profits of up 40% on large volume sales and giving greater stock sizes
  • Handled multiple enquiries whilst maintaining outstanding customer service.
  • In the year personally turned over £650,000 clear profit,
  • Exceeded monthly KPI targets through astute new business generation and expert sales strategy.
  • Used strategic tactics in lead and sales generation processes, assisting department success against established targets.
  • Oversaw and performed product training for team members to determine consistency in product expertise and consultancy.
  • Assisted clients to select products or services best suited to needs.
  • Proficient in negotiations with clients to ensure we met their requirements be it telephone based or on a visiting their premises
  • Sole responsibility working within agreed budget for department.

Sales Assistant

Marks & Spencer
01.1995 - 01.1999
  • Various roles within the retail industry

Wheeler Tubes Sales Engineer

01.1982 - 01.1992
  • Started on YTS in accounts
  • Moved within the company to London division to be member of existing sales team providing stock and non-stocked items to existing client base
  • Developed knowledge of how to structure telephone based quotations, written quotations, which included technical requirements of the products supplied within quotations
  • Moved into Technical Sales team working with lesser product base, dealing with more specialised customer with orders exceeding £500K
  • Built deep product knowledge to offer clients descriptive properties of the material they required to high tensile strengths and to very tight tolerances.

Education

BA (Hons) Degree - English

Skills

  • Process improvement strategies
  • Change management
  • High-pressure environments
  • Policies and procedures implementation
  • Maintenance planning
  • Freight and logistics expertise
  • Warehouse operations
  • Financial and cash flow analyses
  • Relationship building
  • Solutions development
  • Resource planning and allocation
  • Multi-site operations
  • Cost reduction and containment
  • Consensus building techniques

Interests

HOBBIES , A very active person: Gym (spinning, boxercise, Insanity high intensity workout); Running have taken part in ‘The Great North' run and various 10k races; Cycled from Wolverhampton to Aberdovey for charity; Competitive swimmer competing up to national level when younger; ASA qualified swimming teacher, coach, and lecturer. Enjoy reading, especially autobiographies.

Timeline

Operations Manager

ParcelHub Ltd
09.2022 - 09.2023

Delivery Office Manager

Royal Mail Group
01.2006 - 05.2022

Postwoman
01.2000 - 01.2006

Technical Sales Engineer

Thyssen Mannesmann Ltd
01.1999 - 01.2000

Sales Assistant

Marks & Spencer
01.1995 - 01.1999

Wheeler Tubes Sales Engineer

01.1982 - 01.1992

BA (Hons) Degree - English

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Lorraine Williams