Melissa Evans

I started this role on the commercial side of the business. I was responsible for contacting customers - both existing and potential - to offer our site accommodation services. I would gain details about their requirements and use them to raise a formal quote which I would send to them via email. A big part of this role was customer service and sales. From time to time I would need to negotiate costs with customers, giving discount and agreeing to transport costs whilst still ensuring we made a profit, and I would need to ensure we could meet their requested timescales for delivery. I would liaise with our works manager to make sure our units would be sent out on time and to a high standard. After two years in this role an opportunity came up to assist on the operations/admin side of the role. My colleague left and I volunteered to assist whilst they found a replacement. However given how much I enjoyed the role and how quickly I picked it all up, it is is now my permanent role. I now deal with the 'behind the scenes' processes, such as processing contracts on CRM/SAP, arranging services on our cabins, sending contracts live & terminating them, leasing with our central accounts team, processing RAMs and order acknowledgements, and booking transport as well as other office duties. I still quote from time to time, but mostly just with the customers who I was working with before or if there is an absence in the office.

As Production Administrator I was mainly responsible for ordering piece parts, materials and liaising with sub-contractors to ensure they were delivered on time. This was important as any delays in our material deliveries would be detrimental to supplying out customers on time - and as they were high end race teams, time was definitely of the essence. This was a high pressure role and there was not much room for error. As I progressed I was started to become responsible for the production schedule; speaking with our customers and working out how soon we can make their parts and planning it in on our production planner system. In 2018 I was asked to take on additional responsibilities in the office such as quoting, invoicing, credit control and transport. I was asked by the managing director team to visit our headquarters in Austria to improve relationships between the Austrian and UK sales teams. This was a successful trip and allowed as it allowed us to cross-examine our processes and come to a mutual agreement of how these should be run in the future.

Here I was responsible for the production of canal boat engines. I was given a sales order from the Area Sales Manager and had a team of production engineers who would then build the engine that was required. I planned all works into a planner, raised works orders for each engine, made a BOM for each different spec, picked my own parts and put the engine to stock with a part number once completed. on a daily basis I would speak with our stores team, transport team, finance department, sales team and production engineers, meaning I had a vast understanding of how operations worked within the company.

This has to have been the most demanding role I have ever held. I responded to 999 emergency calls from the public, as well as accompanying Paramedics on ambulance shifts. The role was a very high pressured one, as I was dealing with members of the public being injured. I took various calls including talking someone through CPR on a loved one, to assisting a gentleman and his wife giving birth to their baby. There were times where you would have to take yourself away for a moment after a difficult call, but this taught me resilience and how to cope with pressure. I had to multitask in this role as we had 3 separate screens each with something happening on each one. In addition I underwent a thorough selection and training process for this role, and once I was successful we had to pass First Responder training.

I worked as a Sales Associate at Bicester Village during my time at college. I would assist shoppers with their luxury experience and offer advice and assistance when needed. This was a front of house role whereby my communication and people skills needed to be exceptional due to the demand of the location.