Jill Thorn
Jill started her career as a secretary at the BBC and then went on to work as
a PA at Hooper & Co. a Rolls-Royce coachbuilder and then Pizza Hut. She worked as a Project Manager at IPC Media and in 2001 founded Blueumbrella to provide virtual assistance to companies who want experienced secretarial assistance without the overheads of an office or full time staff. Jill and her team continue to help a growing portfolio of clients grow and expand their businesses.

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.

Liz Gill (MA, MCIPD)
Having graduated in Modern Languages, Liz gained membership of the Institute of Personnel Development and commenced her career in Personnel at the London Stock Exchange.

After a couple of years abroad, Liz resumed her career with the European logistics division of Federal Express, working in both Personnel and Employee Communications. Whilst at Fedex, Liz had special responsibility for remuneration and benefits and job evaluation. Returning to work after a family career break, Liz has worked in management consultancy, customer services and general office administration and more recently as a virtual PA for a number of clients.

Bev Barlow
Following completion of her Secretarial Diploma, Bev worked as a PA for various organisations, including the Sales Manager at Weidenfeld & Nicholson Publishers, Technical Director at Chaffoteaux et Maury boiler manufacturers and Managing Director at Frankel and Roth Character Merchandising before joining American Express as PA to the Head of EMEA Hotel Revenue Centre in 1997.

Over the next 10 years, Bev continued her professional development and held various roles within American Express Finance including Training Consultant, Team Leader, Project Manager and for the last 2 years with the Company, held the position of Director on a Global Transformation Project.

After leaving American Express at the end of 2007, Bev decided to take a year out and spend some quality time with her family. After reflecting on her goals, aspirations and values and in an effort to achieve some work/life balance, Bev is now working with Blueumbrella as a Virtual Assistant.

Sally Starks MCIPD
Sally completed a secretarial diploma and her first role was working for the partners of a local accountancy firm.  She then went on to work as a secretary and latterly as a personal assistant in a magistrates’ court, a sales and marketing company and a pharmaceutical company.

Whilst working as a personal assistant to the Marketing Director of a pharmaceutical company, Sally decided it was time to stretch herself further and went on to achieve a diploma with the Institute of Personnel and Development. Through her ten years’ human resources experience, she was accepted as a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD).

Sally’s career in Human Resources has been mainly with Daewoo Cars Limited where she progressed from a Regional Personnel Officer into Human Resources Manager; a true generalist role which encompassed man management, policy development, compensation and benefits, recruitment, grievance, disciplinaries and redundancy.  

Sally has notable skills in organising events and activities, aided by her meticulous attention to detail, and is confident operating at Director level empathizing with clients’ needs and integrating with existing staff.

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.

Emma Long
Emma is an honours graduate with diverse administrative and computer skills and has worked predominately within the finance sector.

Initially working as PA to the Chief Executive and Finance Director of Ruffer Investment (a successful private client investment house), she then moved to GAM where she provided extensive PA Services to a team of Fund Managers trading actively in Pan European equities.

In 2001 Emma joined Goldman Sachs, in the City, as PA to the Co Heads of the Pan European Equity Sales Team. This was a demanding role and she was a key member of the Team providing a wide range of support services, including preparation of presentations, statistical and data analysis reports and organisation of various off-site seminars and meetings in addition to her general PA duties.

Used to working on her own initiative Emma has shown herself an effective self-starter used to taking on new business challenges in demanding customer-facing organisations.

Since leaving Goldman Sachs in 2003 to start her family Emma has participated in various small business activities.

Nicola Marshall
After gaining her qualifications in Business Administration, Nicola’s career quickly progressed to the role of Office Manager in a dynamic and fast paced electronics business. Her role was highly responsible and extensive, often taking full responsibility for the overall running of the business on a day to day basis. After almost 12 years in her role as Office Manager, Nicola joined Global Corporation, Microtek Medical Inc. as the PA to the Vice President. Here she undertook a huge range of tasks in a high pressured environment. Her responsibilities included worldwide travel arrangements including detailed itineraries, business presentations to board level, international exhibition organization, liaising with and managing client’s accounts, diary management and extensive sales reporting and data analysis. Nicola works well under pressure with the ability to work to tight deadlines and multitask. She is highly focused and self-disciplined with a wide range of skills, experience and the ability to adapt quickly to new environments.