I started my career with Heron Foods in 2014 when I joined the HR team as an administrator. From the off I was given the freedom to showcase my skills and was quickly promoted to PA of the then Commercial Director. My most memorable achievement was heading-up the Macmillan Charity partnership for 1 year and collectively the stores raised £250,000! This included a TV shoot in our Halifax store for ITV’s Text Santa appeal.

My background prior to Heron was in training and when an opportunity arose to apply to be a Retail Trainer I jumped at the chance. During my four years in the Training Department I have been involved in many projects; the highlights being the creation of a 12 week training programme for our Store Managers (the ‘Future Flyer’ programme), the introduction and upskill of Training Academy Managers (TAMS) and launching our own e-Learning platform.

It has been fantastic to see the company grow and offer a blended approach to learning. The best reward I get is seeing our employees flourish and achieve promotion within Heron Foods. There are currently 9 TAMS that have progressed their career; 7 to Area Managers and 2 working directly with myself into the training team - AMAZING!

I have recently switched from retail to focus the training within the Store Support Centre and will be overseeing the Area Manager Designate programme which is in its infancy, along with delivering and creating bite size courses for further Management Development.

The business has supported me in many ways and I feel a very valued member of the team. I’m excited to see what the next chapter brings.