Ruth Smith-Batchelor Email and Phone Number

I was promoted to this role which involved leading and managing a team of three - 2 based in the office with me and one remote worker - as well as fulfilling all the tasks required of an EDI Implementation Technician. Key requirements of the role included the ongoing development of the team to ensure empowerment and functional flexibility, delegation of tasks and activities, objective setting and supporting them to prioritise tasks effectively to maximise their productivity. This role involved extensive communication, cooperation and collaboration with both internal and external customers and suppliers, which I must say I thoroughly enjoy.

I was promoted into the EDI team due to my customer service skills and experience, and learnt everything I know about EDI on-the-job supplemented by background reading, research and learning that I did in my own time - an exciting challenge which I thoroughly enjoyed. The majority of the role was integrating new wholesale customers and suppliers and academic/public libraries to enable end to end EDI or web services trading. I would engage with trading partners early to establish their requirements and provide an estimate to the business for the work. Configuration and testing was conducted to ensure as many real world scenarios were captured as possible. Throughout the process I would keep all necessary stakeholders informed and once the partner was live, post-live checks were performed and a handover would be conducted with the appropriate business units.I have an in depth knowledge of EDItEUR Edifact, BIC Tradacoms and ANSI X12 EDI standards for use in the book industry. Bertrams also had their own 121 (Customer Direct Fulfilment) standards which I knew inside and out, as well as SOAP and REST Web Services (BIC Realtime). I also have experience with invoicing through the Peppol network. During this time period, we completed a full EDI tool migration from Reims to IBM sterling integrator. I was involved in extracting information from the old system and integrating it into the new system.The role also consisted of creating new FTP/SFTP login access, configuring data feeds and troubleshooting any issues users reported. I also configured the system to import supplier flat files or ONIX feeds. All of the requests for setups and incidents were maintained through an IT Service Management tool (Marval). I monitored and prioritised the team’s tickets, ensuring the requester was kept updated with the status and made sure they were happy with the resolution before closing the ticket.

Working within the sales team, my role was to ensure that our customers’ accounts were amended to their specific needs and that customers and potential customers received the high levels of customer service they expected. This involved amending parameters or carrier schedules and providing reports produced from queries or Qlikview. I collaborated closely with other departments to ensure orders were placed and released as specified by the customer. The majority of my work was completed on Excel - using a range of advanced formulas and functions - and other MSOffice applications.

Working in an environment regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the role involved handling queries and complaints ranging from policy issues to property damage. Key responsibilities included complex complaints investigations, arranging engineer visits and providing a fair resolution in accordance with the Financial Ombudsman’s guidelines. Whilst communicating with customers by phone, email and letter, HomeServe and FCA regulations had to be adhered to. Strict quality and productivity targets had to be consistently achieved.

Initially recruited into the member retention department, the role involved taking calls from customers wishing to cancel their membership, and retaining their custom by selling policy benefits and ensuring that the cover met the customer’s needs.Following a promotion to the complaints department, the role became more challenging and complex, and involved dealing with a variety a complaints received by phone, letter and email. Complaints were diverse, varying from service at the roadside to problems with customer’s membership. Key responsibilities included investigating the complaint and pursuing a resolution for the customer, whilst establishing root causes of the problem to prevent it from happening again. The role was subject to productivity and quality targets, the Data Protection Act had to be complied with, and all activity had to be compliant to AA and FSA regulations.

I was promoted into this dual role which had two distinct sets of accountabilities and responsibilities. Member Services Management involved ensuring that all policies and procedures were followed during the completion of daily tasks. These included checking and inputting membership paperwork, processing refunds, dealing with cancellations and membership changes. Responding to member queries and handling complaints over the telephone, face to face, via e-mail or letter professionally and in a timely manner was a key element of this role, as was sales, inventory and financial reporting to head office on a daily, weekly and monthly basis according to strict deadlines. The Duty Manager role involved face-to-face query and complaints handling as and when they arose. Managing a team of staff, the successful delegation of tasks was essential to ensure that the club met the Virgin brand standards. Effective time management and excellent organisational skills were integral to achieving the requirements of these dual roles, and with the high-speed nature of the health club environment there were always issue occurring and challenges arising that needed to be rectified immediately. Stock checks, purchasing, weekly banking, front of house staff rotas, member retention and debt recovery were all key requirements of this challenging but highly enjoyable role.

This role involved a great deal of hands-on fitness / training delivery, including frequent full gym inductions and safety briefings, designing individual client programs, and delivery of various fitness classes including circuit training, boxing and spinning classes. The ability to work on an individual basis as well as effectively as part of the team was critical in this role. Further duties included adherence to strict housekeeping and brand standards, and maintaining the daily upkeep of the gym.