We are a leading shopper and retail marketing agency, transforming shopper behaviour by delivering engaging and interactive brand experiences.”

Promoted to the Head of VCG Catapult LA Inc, saw me take on the full responsibility of the US operation from design concept and photography retouch to print and installation

Within my role (both in the UK and California) I was responsible for ensuring our teams of account managers, designers, copywriters and retouchers were aware of our client requirements both day to day and long term. On both sides of the pond I worked incredibly closely with our Creative Director to ensure all projects produced in the studios were on brief and delivered the final creative output required by the client.Recruiting, training and up skilling the teams was a continued on going requirement to ensure we stayed on top of the latest trends and technologies.I was heavily involved in the commercial structure of the business working closely with my MD, Group CEO and FD.For California the initial focus and requirement of this new territory would be to set up a team just south of LAX that would be based on-site with Tesco (Fresh & Easy), looking after their print management requirements. Within a short period of time we proved ourselves to be a very dedicated and skilled team, this saw us grow from a team of 4 to over 20 employees, supplying F&E with a full on-site agency experience.

During 2007 and 2008 the business decided to focus our efforts on expanding the business from print management into a creative agency.. Therefore on top of my existing print management experience and knowledge I had to quickly up-skill myself and my team in not just delivering a print job but also providing excellent creative service. We set about setting up a full studio and up-selling our existing services to our clients. During this change we naturally came across a number of challenges from our clients ‘why move their creative to a print management company’, but after a lot of hard work and dedication we were incredibly successful in not only providing this service to our existing clients but winning new clients as well.At this time I reported directly into the MD and was responsible for all internal personnel, including account managers and designers. The key function of my job was to ensure that all staff were recruited and trained to a high standard, they needed to work closely together to ensure they would take a brief, interpret the requirement, liaise with the client and vendors to achieve the desired end result (all with my support and advise where needed).A large part of my role was ensuring continued development and growth within our existing clients. This was achieved by ensuring we had good rhythms and routines in place with our internal and external KPI’s and SLA’s, coupled with regular client meetings at all levels from marketing managers to directors.At this point within my career I found myself exposed to the more commercial requirements of running a business. This has this played a vital part in my future, as working with a P&L / budget / forecast, and seeing how a business could grown and develop numerically is incredibly exciting.

On-site account management role within British Airways head office looking after a team of 5 individuals running the marketing print spend.Managed an average of 50 jobs at any one time ranging from DL flyers, Direct Mail, point of sale and monthly/weekly publicationsImplemented account management processesManaged and reported on the commercial elements of the contract such as promised savings on a job by job basis and individual supplier spendSupplied my Account Director with constant up dates such as a WIP, showing key financials.

This position taught me the importance of organisation within any agency. Understanding critical deadlines, information and project importance was a key learning curve within my career. With over 900 stock lines to look after – you couldn’t get it wrong!