The first two years of my full time employment were spent working in the syndication department of the London based subsidiary of a Belgian bank having qualified as a multi-lingual secretary whilst working part-time for a well known retailer.I then moved to a civil service trade union over 3 decades working with members across multiple government departments and public sector agencies.Taking voluntary severance, I took part-time employment with another well known retailer before 4 years working full time for another trade union in the creative industries.Taking me up to state pension age, I worked temporarily part time at an organisation supporting the interests of pensioners who had previously worked in civil and public service areas.