TEES UP!
NAME: HARRIET SPALDING AGE: 29 BORN: STOCKTON LIVES: NEASHAM COMPANY & JOB TITLE: INVESTMENT, SALES & MARKETING MANAGER, MANDALE GROUP
When I was at school, I wanted to be … a professional sports player of some description. I was good at all sports at school but I never found anything I excelled in. I love sport – cycling, hockey, running, the gym, watching it, following it.
The best business decision I ever made was … moving to Mandale. It’ s a family business so that might sound like a natural decision but I left school not really knowing what I wanted to do so I went into accountancy. It took me three years working as an accountant to realise it wasn’ t what I wanted to do. When I moved I was given the opportunity to try various roles, and I’ ve fallen into something I really enjoy.
The worst business decision I ever made was … I never went to university, and I wish I had gone, only for the experience. I didn’ t want to go because I didn’ t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I couldn’ t pick something to study. I think I’ d have enjoyed university so I think I might have missed out. At least I wasn’ t left with the financial burden of going to university.
The best part of my job is … the people I work with. I do work with my family, which I do enjoy – and rarely hate. At Mandale, we all get on really well, communicate well and it really does feel like a big team effort. There’ s no finger-pointing, there’ s just a good vibe.
The biggest downside of my working life is … never switching off. I think it’ s a mixture of reluctance and inability, but I find it hard to switch off. With it being a family business the only time my phone doesnt ring with work really is over the Christmas period. I know this is the case with a lot of people, but it’ s one of the reasons i look forward to the break!
If I could change one thing to help my organisation it would be … probably changing government policy. With construction and property development, there is so much legislation and policy in place that you spend valuable resources often going round in circles. Some of the loops we have to jump through are there for a very good reason, but often we hit barriers and sticking points that are arduous and unnecessary. It would be so much easier if there was a way to streamline things.
Four words to describe me are … fair, open, reliable and optimistic.