PROFILE
F or her 10th birthday, Rachel Burke had an unusual request. She wanted a business suit – made-tomeasure, in duck egg blue.
“ I had this image in my head of wanting to be a smart businesswoman,” says Rachel.“ I already had a Corporate Barbie, with a briefcase. And when I got the suit, I wore it everywhere – even when I was playing out in the street.”
Today, as she reflects on being recently crowned Tees Businesswoman of the Year, Rachel is in the Billingham boardroom of global industrial technology expert Tracerco, where she is director of compliance, risk and business support.
And she looks every inch the smart businesswoman, in an immaculate blue suit, albeit more cobalt than duck egg.
“ I was in the Middle East last week and I was photographed visiting an oil field in a pair of stilettos,” she laughs in self-mocking acknowledgement of the incongruity.
But there’ s plenty of substance to go with the style, and Rachel’ s come a long way since those childhood days when she dreamed of entrepreneurial success in her beloved hometown of Middlesbrough.
It was a contented childhood, though not without its difficulties. Her dad, Eric, was a hard-working postman, but her mum, Joan, endured health problems and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Rachel was eight. With Joan needing to be in hospital for long periods, Eric spent a lot of time on his own, raising Rachel and her younger siblings, Adam and Lauren.
“ It was hard at times, but it was a happy childhood, and we were lucky to have parents who were loving and wonderfully encouraging,” says Rachel.
The children ended up spending a lot of time with their paternal grandmother, Olive.“ She was widowed in her 40s, worked as a nurse and was really glamorous, so I always looked up to her.”
Olive used a tailor to make her best clothes, so she was the one who made her granddaughter’ s 10th birthday wish come true.
Rachel had another strong female role model in her Auntie Kath, a police inspector, whose skills included being a hostage negotiator.
“ The encouragement of my parents, along with having those strong women in my life, definitely built my confidence and shaped my ambitions,” acknowledges Rachel.
Early signs of her leadership credentials came at Hall Garth School, in Acklam, where she was chosen as a prefect.
“ Even at that young age, I realised the importance of adapting your style of leadership to get the best out of people,” she says.“ People are different, so they respond in different ways.”
She started A-levels at St Mary’ s Sixth Form College, but it didn’ t work out. She left after a few months, resulting in her mum giving her three days to find a job.
Rachel wasted no time in walking into the Chamber of Commerce offices in Middlesbrough and signing up for an apprenticeship in business administration at solicitors Tilly Bailey & Irvine in Hartlepool.
At 20, she started working in admin for a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Peterlee, and that was followed by a move to Billingham-based Avecia Biologics – now Fujifilm – where she supported a clinical trial aimed at countering an anticipated anthrax terror attack in the wake of 9 / 11.
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The voice of business in the Tees region | 19