I am The Lady in the Shed.I offer a comprehensive range of marketing and productivity solutions to sole traders and small business owners enabling them to concentrate on whatever it is they do rather than getting bogged down with all the tedious tasks that are essential for business success, but are not really what they want to do.I pride myself on being a problem solver and a can-do person, meaning that I can turn my hand to most tasks - as long as they're legal and ethical.My services include:- Marketing- Social media management- Creation and maintenance of websites and online presence- Online course management and support- Email management- Writing and proofreading- Document, template, report and presentation creation, formatting and editing- Internet research- Transcription and typing- Preparation of business systems and standard operating procedures- Identification of business development opportunities.

My husband and I run a small agricultural business from our smallholding at home.We source second hand farm machinery and agricultural bygones for resale to smallholders, equestrians and country folk through eBay and our website, which I created using WordPress and regularly maintain and update.We purchase piglets, usually rare breeds (our favourites are Tamworths), which we rear from weaning to finished weight to be sold as freezer packs of pork, bacon and sausages. We also maintain a small flock of breeding ewes and a tup called Mr T and rear the lambs to finishing for freezer packs of half or whole lambs, which we sell locally. We are passionate about where our food comes from and the only way to guarantee this is to rear it ourselves. We're not as good growing vegetables though ... but there are folks nearby that are.I do all the paperwork and admin for our enterprise - my husband would far rather be getting oily preparing a machine for sale. I maintain the financial records, prepare the end of year accounts and self assessment tax forms for HMRC and manage the records required by DEFRA and the Environment Agency.

Midland Tree Surgeons is a small arboricultural contracting and consultancy company with two Directors and nine members of staff - six arborists, two consultants and me.I did most of the stuff that doesn't involve a chainsaw or climbing or inspecting trees, including dealing with phone enquiries, diary management, invoicing and chasing bad debts and preparing job sheets, risk assessments, method statements, reports, quotations, letters and other documents, including researching content, formatting, copy editing, proofreading and editing, inserting and annotating photographs and diagrams.Using the Planning Portal, I prepared tree preservation order applications and conservation area notifications. I also prepared the documentation required to maintain the Company’s Arboricultural Association Approved Contractor Scheme, TrustMark, Constructionline, SafeContractor and CHAS accreditation. I looked after the Environment Agency certificates and exemptions and prepared and submitted documentation for approved supplier schemes.I managed the redevelopment of the Company’s website to increase enquiries. This involved transferring the domain name, arranging self hosting and building the website using WordPress. I currently maintain the website and regularly add new content.As part of the Company's business development activities, I monitored tender portals for potential opportunities and prepared the narrative sections of both PQQs and ITTs. Together with my colleague, I was responsible for maintaining and improving the Company’s integrated management system incorporating ISO9001, OHSAS18001 and ISO14001.I looked after some aspects of the plant, machinery and vehicles, including logs, defects, tachographs, fuel, LOLER inspections, pressure vessel testing, sourcing and ordering parts, preparing maintenance schedules and scheduling safety checks. I also managed the Company's statutory obligations with regards to fire, PAT testing and employee health surveillance.

As well as writing, editing and proofreading a range of marketing materials, including web pages, adverts, emails and posters, I managed the production of all major publications, both printed and digital, to set objectives, budgets and deadlines. This involved researching content, writing copy, sourcing images, developing the design, liaising with internal and external stakeholders and maintaining appropriate data collection mechanisms.In line with the University's ethos of providing education with the personal touch, I developed a fully personalised print on demand undergraduate prospectus. After determining the needs of stakeholders and taking budgetary and technological constraints into consideration, I worked with a printer to develop a bespoke variable data printing system that could communicate with output from the website, while working with a team of designers and photographers to develop the artwork.To reduce print costs and improve the University's environmental credentials, I produced digital versions of the postgraduate publications containing embedded videos and links to the website. This format was well received by prospective students and the online ordering system I developed had the added bonus of allowing data to be collected for CRM purposes.After auditing key areas of the website and undertaking usability studies, I used the feedback to restructure the sites and incorporate more interactivity. A key objective was zero downtime, which I achieved. By setting goals in Google Analytics, I monitored the effectiveness of the restructure to ensure the goals, which were related to the marketing strategy, met their targets. To reposition the University in a very competitive market, I was part of the team that developed a new brand identity for the University covering all digital and print assets. At the end of the project I produced and disseminated the new brand guidelines, associated photography guidelines and style guide for writing.

I initially started working at the University of Derby on a temporary contract and was soon taken on as a permanent member of staff. It was a great opportunity to strengthen the skills I had developed previously and learn new ones.Together with the Business Development Manager and the Marketing Officer, I was part of the Business Development and Marketing team in the Faculty of Education, Health and Sciences.I was responsible for investigating business development opportunities for the Faculty, performimg marketing research and preparing reports and tender documents. I researched, compiled and costed a business plan to generate income from the University's scanning electron microscope and co-ordinated the implementation of the plan to local businesses.The first prospectus I prepared from start to finish was targetted at staff within the NHS and included courses offered by the School of Health that managers within the NHS could recommend to their teams as part of continuing professional development. Working within the University's corporate brand guidelines, I prepared the copy, sourced the images, worked with a designer to develop the look and feel of the product, arranged the printing and co-ordinated the distribution of the prospectus. I was also involved with preparing individual course leaflets to provide further information to that provided within the University prosectuses.I was responsible for organising training courses and workshops for external stakeholders, including the NHS. This involved booking the venue, arranging refreshments, preparing handouts, co-ordinating bookings, greeting the delegates and analysing feedback. I also represented the Faculty at both internal and external events, including the University open days, for which I also co-ordinated staffing for the various subject areas.Using the Silktide Site Manager content management system, I was one of the Faculty web editors.

Over the years, I worked in a number of veterinary hospitals, initially as Trainee Veterinary Nurse and once qualified moving on to positions as Senior Veterinary Nurse and Clinical Nursing Manager. With my agricultural and equine background, my particular interest was in large animal medicine and my calm demeanor in a crisis meant that I could be relied on to get on with the job in an emergency.I initiated and maintained Standard Operating Systems for good veterinary hospital practice and was responsible for large teams, supervising to 14 nurses and nusing assistants and planning staffing rotas to include up to 20 members of staff to provide 24 hour cover.Managing an out of hours veterinary clinic in an inner city location was a challenging role where assertiveness and people management skills were as important as my emergency vetererinary nursing skills.Working in a number of practices enabled me to gain experience of both small and large animal veterinary nursing tasks, including medical cases, undertaking minor surgical procedures as per Schedule 3 and anaesthesia and radiography. I particularly enjoyed performing nurse consultations with clients and developing relationships with the clients to become the first point of contact with a question or problem.I have always felt that education of animal owners is very important, so I researched, prepared and produced client information leaflets and booklets and also implemented initiatives that stengthened client engagement with the practice, such as free pet dental health checks, obesity clinics and flea and worm checks. These initiatives also noticeably increased practice turnover by improving the income generated by the nursing team.It's important that children understand the importance of caring for their pets, so I arranged visits to local schools to talk to the children about pet care. I was also an assessor for the Brownies Friend to Animals badge.

Now an independent company, when I was working for Rumenco it was part of Tate and Lyle, with the by-products of sugar refining, particularly molasses, being a major component of the animal feeds manufactured by the company.I was involved right at the beginning with the implementation of the ISO9002 Quality Management System, which I was subsequently responsible for maintaining, reviewing and improving.A key element of the Quality Management System was managing non-conformances and product complaints in particular. I was responsible for managing the product complaint system and overseeing timely corrective action to maintain customer loyalty and the credibility of the company.Using linear programming software, manufacturing criteria and my nutritional knowledge, I was part of the team of formulators preparing the recipes for the feeds. This was an interesting aspect of my job and the trial mixes were always a nail biting time, waiting to see whether the licks would set or the blocks would hold together. It was always good to spend time on farms or at equestrian yards carrying out feed trials as part of ruminant and equine product development work and then back in the office analysing the results and preparing the trial reports for the management team to decide whether to take the product to market.I was also part of the nutritional advisory team providing ruminant and equine nutritional advice to customers over the phone, by letter and face-to-face on farm or at shows. I particularly enjoyed researching, preparing and producing client information leaflets and booklets to supplement the verbal advice given. Way before there were sophisticated apps, I used Excel to create a suckler cow costings tool for farmers that was distributed to them on a floppy disk to help them to manage their herds efficiently and identify areas where improvements could be made.