|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Heather Cotton
 Before becoming a lecturer in Business Administration and IT in 1993, Heather was an experienced PA and had worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in both London and Caracas, Venezuela and for the Chairman of HarperCollins Publishers. She joined Blueumbrella’s VA team in 2005 and has worked with a number of clients during this time. Heather also delivers Blueumbrella’s training courses for PAs/administrators. |
|
Alex Brown
 Alex moved to London from York 10 years ago and worked as Team Assistant at two small Mobile Technology companies before joining Goldman Sachs in 2001. There she was Team Assistant on the Pan European Trading desk before becoming PA to the Head of Equity Sales and the Head of New Market Sales, Her role was varied and challenging and she managed all aspects of her Managers’ business, social and personal lives.
Alex left Goldman Sachs in 2007 following the birth of her twin boys and has put her PA skills to good use by working as a VA for an interior designer and a website entrepreneur. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Becky Tanner
 Becky is an honours graduate who then went on to obtain a secretarial diploma. She currently works as a VA for an architect and an entrepreneur.
Prior to this Becky spent 12 years working as an Executive Assistant to the Chairman and President of Sony Music Entertainment. In this role she provided top level PA support, organised international conferences, diary management and made extensive travel arrangements. During this time she won Music Industry PA Of The Year Award twice.
In the past she has also worked as a PA to a VP of a major film company and for the CEO of an artist management company. |
|
Catherine Rick
 Catherine started her career as a PA at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. During her time there she had overseas postings at the British Embassies in Bulgaria and the UAE. Catherine left the FCO to accompany her husband to Brussels and whilst there worked as PA for the UK Delegation to the Western European Union at NATO HQ. Returning to the UK Catherine had a career break to start a family.
Catherine is a good communicator and offers an extensive range of business administration skills. She also has working knowledge and experience in French and Spanish. Since returning to work Catherine has enjoyed a variety of positions, including office manager for an interior designer, marketing assistant with a software company and more recently researching and writing articles for a moneysaving website. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Saghi Zarbafi
 Saghi was bought up in Guildford, Surrey and moved to London in her early 20’s where utilising her strong communication and interpersonal skills within temp contracts, she secured the role of PA to the Editor of Marie Claire magazine. Saghi then moved to the role of Board PA at IPC Magazines for 8 years working on a variety of high profile consumer magazine titles.
After leaving IPC Magazines and travelling around the world for a year, Saghi returned to London and after completing a contract at Sony Ericsson, decided to move into the SME arena gaining valuable experience of working within a smaller environment. Saghi has been a trusted and conscientious member of Board and Executive level teams and brings excellent organisational and administrative skills to the table utilising her experience of high level diary management, extensive national and international travel and event organisation.
Used to working under pressure and to tight deadlines to deliver bids, new business pitches, management buyout presentations and proposals, Saghi is an asset to have on the team. In the last few years, Saghi has worked predominantly for a Commercial Property Developer and an Executive Coach looking after not only the business requirements but also dealing with private family matters. Saghi is a flexible and adaptable individual who inspires confidence in others and considers trust and team work the keys to her success as a VA. |
|
Karen Hardy
 Karen became a virtual assistant in 2010 after over 20 years of working at senior board level in London.
Karen is able to offer services at every level. Her extremely varied career means that she is as much at home providing basic secretarial services as she is organising large scale, high budget events or preparing public consultation statements.
Having extensive experience of close business involvement with Councillors, MPs and top level corporate personnel and executives, Karen understands and is fully committed to her client's need for total discretion with regard to sensitive and highly confidential matters.
Since becoming a Virtual Assistant Karen has enjoyed working with a varied client base which has resulted in a wide range of work from diary management to co-ordinating training courses overseas to even furnishing an apartment in America at short notice – she loves a challenge! |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Josie Shantonas
 Josie has been at the forefront of Virtual Assistance for 10 years having provided services to small businesses and individuals since 2001. She has a wealth of experience helping SMEs run their businesses and has strong skills in events management, running successful literary events for the Richmond Art Council with Jacqueline Wilson, Alexander McCall-Smith and Chris Patten, as well as major trade shows and exhibitions and industry workshops at European Embassies. Josie is currently co-ordinating the diary, political, business and social life of a leading political figure with his support staff in Academia and the House of Lords.
Josie started her career in advertising and marketing and, after gaining her degree, she gained substantial experience working with large multinational corporations mainly in the FMCG sector where she was responsible for advertising budgets in excess of £30 million.
Josie is client focussed, responsive to needs and is self sufficient whilst as being a committed and enthusiastic team member. |
|
Alison Wightman
Alison has over 20 years experience working in the City and West End of London, much of it at board level. Her roles have included PA to the MD of the Property Group at UBS Limited and she provided administrative support to the Chief Executive of ING Barings as well as various roles in the property and leisure industries.
More recently she has worked as a VA for a structural surveyor and a property maintenance company, where she was responsible for all the office administration as well as managing the daily workloads of the contractors. She is also the VA for a brand strategy agency and is responsible for managing multiple diaries, booking travel and accommodation as well as general PA and admin duties for the Chief Exec and 4 directors. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Samantha Dunn
Samantha started her career as a PA for an Advertising Agency, working her way up to Senior Account Executive before moving into the Newspaper publishing industry in various sales and marketing roles. She has worked for the Daily Mail Promotions department and Northcliffe Newspapers in Media Sales. She then went to the Nottingham Evening Post as Marketing Manager and finally left her position there as Assistant Circulation Director in 2003 to have her first of two daughters. Sam has a wealth of business administration skills. |
|
Victoria Goddard
Victoria is a very experienced PA who has worked at a senior level across a range of sectors. She was Executive Assistant to a Senior Partner at Accenture for many years, primarily responsible for maximising the effective use of his time. In addition to the usual PA duties of diary and travel management, she was also responsible for organising regular off-site partner meetings and several international conferences, all of which she attended. Victoria took time out to raise two children and lived in San Francisco for 8 years. Most recently, she has helped a small management consultancy in Central London set up their own in-house resourcing division, being involved in all aspects of the business set up, including interviewing candidates and attending client marketing meetings. Victoria is highly literate, has excellent communication skills and is comfortable dealing with people at all levels.
For her own enjoyment, she is currently studying part time for a BA (Hons) in History. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Elisa Allen
Elisa is a highly organised individual and the consummate professional at all times. She began her career as a PA/Office Supervisor, working for a Start-up company and was responsible for initiating the company’s filing systems and office procedures – which included Health & Safety policies and staff personnel files. She managed the office and MD diaries, organisation of all client and staff meetings, dinners and social events; with the additional project of coordinating the office refurbishment.
This initial experience, lead Elisa to a career within Event Management spanning 8 years – which involved organising two prestigious award ceremonies each year, large conferences, monthly seminars, regular hands-on courses, launch parties, exhibitions and frequent charity dinners. She has worked with highbrow speakers from all over the world, celebrities and dental professionals; arranging contracts, presentations, travel and accommodation on a regular basis. Elisa would also source appropriate venues, AV requirements, and catering; all within frequent tight deadlines and always working to company targets and budgets. Elisa is an extremely hard working and motivated person, she thrives on the opportunity for new challenge and learning new skills; excelling in busy, pressurised work environments. She can communicate effectively with a diverse range of personalities and personnel at all levels; either face to face or over the telephone and is extremely proficient in IT. She has an incredible eye for detail and is able to plan, organise and manage her time efficiently. With the experience and skills acquired over the years, Elisa would make an invaluable contribution to any business. |
|
Judith Paine
Judith has over 10 years experience working in the City, starting off as a team secretary on the trading floor at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities and then joining Royal Bank of Scotland in 2006 as PA to an MD (and a small team) in the Equity Finance department.
After the birth of her first daughter in 2009, she became a part time PA to the Head of Equity Finance at RBS where she was primarily responsible for managing a very hectic diary including extensive travel arrangements, in addition to the day-to-day personal assistant and secretarial functions.
Judith has a friendly, outgoing personality who has the ability to prioritise a demanding workload and work under pressure, either on her own or as a member of a team. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jill started her career as a secretary at the BBC and then went on to work as 
