Summary
Overview
Work history
Education
Skills
Interests
Additional Information
Timeline
Generic

LYNNE McGRAIL

Warrington,Cheshire

Summary

I am a conscientious and professional administrator with extensive experience and am a well organised and disciplined person. Since taking early retirement from my full-time administrative role in 2020, I have fulfilled a temporary summer contract working as a Customer Assistant in a retail environment, which I really enjoyed.

I am positive and proactive, and feel I am well-suited to this type of role. I possess strong communication and problem-solving skills, alongside a natural ability to build rapport with customers. I am committed to enhancing customer satisfaction and driving positive outcomes.

I enjoy working in a team environment, but also have the ability to work alone and use my own initiative. I consider myself reliable and resourceful and am happy to learn new skills and take on board whatever tasks are required. I enjoy meeting people and am willing to be flexible with my working hours to suit the role.

Overview

43
43
years of professional experience

Work history

Customer Assistant (Temporary Summer Contract)

Marks & Spencer
Warrington, Cheshire
05.2023 - 09.2023
  • As a member of the Beauty team, engaged with customers on a one- to-one basis, offering advice and information regarding skincare and beauty, based on the products available in store
  • Provided fast checkout service with high levels of customer care and transaction speed
  • Maintained sales floor stock levels through consistent monitoring and regular replenishments
  • Created attractive visual merchandising displays
  • Assisted in different departments within Clothing and Home, to gain a wide range of knowledge of the store
  • Handled requests with friendly, knowledgeable service and support, continually achieving positive customer feedback

Reservoir Safety Technical Administrator

United Utilities
Warrington, Cheshire
11.2010 - 11.2020
  • Provided technical and administrative support to Regional Reservoir Safety Manager and Supervising Engineers
  • Acted as system administrator and trainer for Team Share Point site, Prescribed Form of Record and Reservoir Action Tracker (IRAT)
  • Acted as Secretary for bi-monthly Dam Safety Group and monthly Dam Safety Working Group meetings

Business Analyst

United Utilities
Warrington, Cheshire
04.2008 - 11.2010
  • Acted as Lead in the Wastewater Technical Team for MCERTS Flow Monitoring
  • Management of Wastewater Central Technical Team budget
  • Advised Wastewater District units of their legislative and regulatory requirements and where appropriate assisted them in implementing these
  • Ensured that activities undertaken by Process Operations were compliant with legislative and regulatory requirements
  • Assisted in development, implementation and maintenance of Wastewater Business Management Systems
  • Responsible for compilation of Spill Reports and UV Data and Exception Reports in a timely fashion to meet Environment Agency's deadlines for submission

Wastewater Quality Analyst

United Utilities
Warrington, Cheshire
06.2007 - 04.2008
  • This role was a secondment covering maternity leave
  • Acted as focal point in relation to all correspondence to Environment Agency on non-compliance and pollution incidents
  • Ensuring appropriate, consistent and timely responses were made, to help reduce the risk of prosecution and enhance UU's reputation
  • Ensured all correspondence and any background information was promptly sent to relevant District Manager and they were made aware of timescales for a response
  • Liaised with Legal Services on any relevant aspects of non-compliance e.g Questions under caution, prosecutions etc
  • Responsible for maintenance of systems to track all aspects of non-compliance and pollution correspondence
  • Provided senior managers with relevant reports to enable them to proactively manage non-compliance issues and their relationship with Environment Agency on operational performance
  • Assisted Wastewater Operations Technical Manager in preparation and review of appropriate regulatory returns and correspondence
  • Maintained appropriate systems for storage, retrieval and auditing of compliance related regulatory returns/correspondence
  • Responsible for overseeing payment for all pollution incidents and reporting to Wastewater Operations Technical Manager on budgetary forecasting

Trade Effluent Analyst

United Utilities
Warrington, Cheshire
09.2006 - 06.2007
  • I returned to my role as Trade Effluent Analyst following completion of my secondment within the same team

Acting Performance & Licensing Analyst

United Utilities
Warrington, Cheshire
01.2006 - 08.2006
  • This role was a secondment within the Trade Effluent Team covering maternity leave
  • Acted as System Supervisor and ‘expert user' for Trade Effluent Management System (TEMS) and Chair of TEMS User Group
  • Responsible for overseeing TEMS Enhancement Project for Trade Effluent team and working with TEMS technical application support team to develop reliable, necessary improvements to the application
  • Responsible for production of monthly report for Trade Effluent Steering Group
  • Compiled trade effluent portion of EA Pollution Inventory Return and OFWAT June Return
  • Collated and interpreted information on trade effluent sales in order to formulate trade effluent income budget; to monitor performance against the budget and account for variances
  • Involvement in development of Your Opinion Survey (YOS) Action Plan for the team which had a strong customer focus
  • Trained as Advanced User of Business Objects running regular reports for wider business

Trade Effluent Analyst

United Utilities
Warrington, Cheshire
04.1999 - 01.2006
  • Assisted in development of policies, standards and procedures
  • Identified, developed and implemented improvement initiatives
  • Provided information, data and guidance for Operations based trade effluent staff
  • Production and quality control of trade effluent consents and directions
  • Responsible for maintenance of statutory public register of consents
  • Liaised with Environment Agency to ensure that Statutory Consultations and Special Category effluent information was collated and reported accurately and on time to both internal and external customers
  • Trained as System Administrator and ‘expert user' of TEMS
  • Produced Trade Effluent Reports for wider business using Business Objects
  • Deputised for Performance and Licensing Analyst

Secretary

United Utilities
Warrington, Cheshire
10.1994 - 04.1999
  • Provided full secretarial service to Wastewater Management General Manager
  • Provided secretarial support to other key managers within the Wastewater function
  • Qualified SAP user - including conference booking, ordering equipment and services and inputting of expenses for all of the Management teams

Secretary

North West Water Engineering
Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire
08.1993 - 10.1994
  • Provided full secretarial service to Business Development Director and Business Development department
  • Provided cover for secretaries to Managing Director and Personnel Director of NWWE

Secretary

North West Water
Old Trafford, Manchester
01.1993 - 08.1993
  • Provided full secretarial service to Managing Director of Process Engineering Group (PEG) and wider department including Finance Director and Personnel Manager
  • Provided secretarial support to Process Instrumentation Group (PIG)

Secretary

North West Water Engineering
Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire
05.1991 - 12.1992
  • Provided full secretarial support to Managing Director of North West Water Engineering
  • Provided cover as required for secretaries to Project and Engineering Directors
  • Provided typing service for consultants working directly for North West Water

Assistant Secretary

North West Water Limited
Warrington, Cheshire
05.1989 - 05.1991
  • Provided full secretarial backup in Managing Directors office, and for Planning Director, Quality Director and Engineering Director before the departments separated
  • Managed clerical needs of employees, including administrative support, file management and stationery supplies
  • Set travel arrangements and provided relevant tickets and documentation for management and executive staff
  • Wrote accurate, reliable reports and correspondence from dictation and handwritten notes

Clerk / Word Processor Operator

North West Water
Warrington, Cheshire
07.1987 - 05.1989
  • Provided word processing and administration service to Information Systems Department

Receptionist and general administrator

North West Water
St Helens, Merseyside
07.1985 - 07.1987
  • Answered telephone enquiries from the general public and other North West Water employees and transferred calls to relevant department
  • Greeted incoming customers in a professional manner and provided friendly, knowledgeable assistance
  • Delivered front of house duties in a warm and professional manner
  • Provided clerical support to company employees, including photocopying, faxing and file management
  • Collected and distributed incoming mail, employing strict confidentiality throughout
  • Allocated jobs to District Officers and their staff

Audio Typist

North West Water
Warrington, Cheshire
04.1984 - 07.1985
  • Word processing and audio/copy typing for all departments
  • Used expertise in legal work to provide additional administrative support to Legal and Finance departments
  • Checked completed documents for spelling, grammar and punctuation to ensure correctness

Audio Typist and Receptionist

J. Keith Park & Co, Solicitors
St Helens, Merseyside
06.1982 - 04.1984
  • Responsible for producing all types of legal correspondence including wills, leases, conveyances etc.
  • Checked completed documents for spelling, grammar and punctuation to ensure correctness
  • Acted as cover for receptionist during lunch breaks, holidays and sickness

Retail Store Assistant

Co-operative (KK Superstore)
St Helens, Merseyside
12.1980 - 06.1982
  • Worked on delicatessen counter, weighing and serving customers with produce
  • Regularly replenished sales floor stock, ensuring clear, consistent product availability
  • Organised displays to promote inventory and encourage customer purchases
  • Assisted customers with product selection and sales, recommending coordinating items to increase transaction value

Education

NVQ Level 2 - Understanding Nutrition and Health

Cambridge Regional College
Cambridge
01/2025 - 06/2025

Certificate of Higher Education - Trade Effluent Control and Charging

Bolton College
10.2006

GCSEs - Italian and Psychology

St Helens College of Technology
Merseyside
06.1990

Certificate of Higher Education - Administration

St Helens College of Technology
Merseyside
06.1987

London Chamber of Commerce - Private Secretary's Certificate and Secretarial Studies Certificate - Secretarial Studies

St Helens College of Technology
Merseyside
1982

Cowley International College
St Helens
06.1980

Skills

  • Attention to detail
  • Customer focused
  • Good communication skills
  • Team player
  • Well organised
  • Self-motivated
  • Enjoys meeting people
  • Competent in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  • Acted as mentor/business adviser for The Prince's Trust as part of United Utilities' Employee Volunteering initiative

Interests

I like travelling, theatre shows, reading and listening to music. I regularly partake in Pilates and Yoga classes, both face-to-face and on-line and enjoy walking with friends. My greatest passion is supporting my local rugby league team “Saints” based in St Helens.


I am very interested in Italy - the culture, people and food. I enrolled for an Italian conversation evening class at my local college, which eventually led to me successfully achieving a GCSE in the language.

Additional Information

References are available on request

Timeline

Customer Assistant (Temporary Summer Contract)

Marks & Spencer
05.2023 - 09.2023

Reservoir Safety Technical Administrator

United Utilities
11.2010 - 11.2020

Business Analyst

United Utilities
04.2008 - 11.2010

Wastewater Quality Analyst

United Utilities
06.2007 - 04.2008

Trade Effluent Analyst

United Utilities
09.2006 - 06.2007

Acting Performance & Licensing Analyst

United Utilities
01.2006 - 08.2006

Trade Effluent Analyst

United Utilities
04.1999 - 01.2006

Secretary

United Utilities
10.1994 - 04.1999

Secretary

North West Water Engineering
08.1993 - 10.1994

Secretary

North West Water
01.1993 - 08.1993

Secretary

North West Water Engineering
05.1991 - 12.1992

Assistant Secretary

North West Water Limited
05.1989 - 05.1991

Clerk / Word Processor Operator

North West Water
07.1987 - 05.1989

Receptionist and general administrator

North West Water
07.1985 - 07.1987

Audio Typist

North West Water
04.1984 - 07.1985

Audio Typist and Receptionist

J. Keith Park & Co, Solicitors
06.1982 - 04.1984

Retail Store Assistant

Co-operative (KK Superstore)
12.1980 - 06.1982

NVQ Level 2 - Understanding Nutrition and Health

Cambridge Regional College
01/2025 - 06/2025

Certificate of Higher Education - Trade Effluent Control and Charging

Bolton College

GCSEs - Italian and Psychology

St Helens College of Technology

Certificate of Higher Education - Administration

St Helens College of Technology

London Chamber of Commerce - Private Secretary's Certificate and Secretarial Studies Certificate - Secretarial Studies

St Helens College of Technology

Cowley International College
LYNNE McGRAIL