Our team

Shirley’s admin experience and skills grew when she joined the Civil Service. She has excellent communication and office management skills gained working in Central Government alongside senior managers and Ministers covering diary management, correspondence, travel arrangements and briefings for Parliamentary speeches. 

She moved away from Central Government to work in the local Government environment where she developed her team leading skills. She motivated her teams to achieve office targets through mentoring and encouragement to enhance their skills. She delivered training opportunities to staff and customers alike with the latest Government initiatives.

The highlight of her career in the Civil Service came when she became interested in self employment. She researched self employment and looked at ways in which barriers could be removed for people in receipt of benefit assistance. She held workshops for benefit customers who were interested in self employment who came and discussed their business ideas and then together drew up a plan to take the business idea forward. She worked alongside Ixion promoting the New Enterprise Allowance within the JobcentrePlus through group sessions which enabled claimants to obtain financial assistance towards their businesses and to start trading. She was presented with an Award from the Secretary of State for Employment for the work she did in this area in 2014. 

In her early career she covered several roles including telephonist/receptionist, legal cashier, bookkeeping and wages supervision. 

Shirley took early retirement from the Civil Service and has achieved her lifelong dream of living in the sunshine.