Anne Curtis

Profile

For 25 years I’ve worked in a variety of management roles. I am experienced team leader with well-developed organisational skills. My most recent permanent role had numbers of aspects to it. I was an Office Manager with responsibility for all facilities, HR, financial management as well as general administration. I was the go-to person for the team of 15 people including directors and other members of staff. As such in a typical day I am happy to do anything from negotiating contracts to buying the milk.  “It’s not my job” is just not in my vocabulary!

 

Employment history

2011 – present	Virtual Assistant   I am currently working to build my own business working as a virtual assistant or PA for small organisations.
2005-2010	Office and Customer Service Manager Wordtracker  (www.wordtracker.com)
	My role was very eclectic as is often the case when you work for a small company. I was originally employed as Customer Services manager but over the last 5 years that role has developed. I still run our customer service team which has now grown to 3 people. However I had added additional responsibilities over time. I now have overall responsibility for Office Management. This includes financial management using Sage as I am responsible for cash flow management and paying all suppliers invoices. I had HR responsibility including Payroll management. As part of this I have worked with our HR consultants to agree new contracts with all staff, which comply with current legislation. I have also been involved in resolving disputes with staff and other disciplinary issues I was also responsible for general office administration and facilities management.
1984-2005	Sales Manager McMillan-Scott plc
	I led a team of 8 staff, handling advertising sales and subscriptions management for this publishing company, dealing with over 61,000 advertisers and 600 titles a year. As well as heading the company’s core customer-facing operation, I had substantial HR responsibilities including recruitment, training and disciplinary processes. Beginning as a trainee advertising sales executive, I progressed from telephone sales to negotiating directly with major clients and launching new titles. As Sales Manager I was responsible for advertising sales across all titles including Floodlight, the adult education guide,and many other well-known publications in the healthcare, leisure and educational sectors.

 

Academic and professional qualifications

HND Business Studies and Finance Leeds Polytechnic Business School (Distinction)

BA (Hons.) Humanities Birkbeck College University of London

Other skills

I’ve developed my communications skills over a career dedicated to building and maintaining relationships. I believe communication is essential to business, both between staff and between the business and its customers. Each person is an individual and requires a different approach; as a manager I get the best out of my staff by finding out what motivates each person, and linking that to the aims of the business. As a customer service and sales professional my strategic aim is to create long-term relationships of mutual benefit: in Seth Godin’s phrase, turning strangers into friends and friends into customers.

I’m highly IT-literate, with excellent skills in both PC and Mac platforms, Microsoft Office, databases and other business software. I also liaise with IT staff ensuring that my team have the equipment and training they need, and working with developers to help design and improve the company’s internal IT systems for use by customer service staff.

I am an experienced and capable office manager, dealing with facilities management, supplies, invoicing, accounts and bookkeeping, human resources, health and safety, and general troubleshooting.