Role: Business And Enterprise Manager
Company: University Of Ulster
Track Record:
What does your job entail?
My job in essence involves multi-tasking on many levels and key tasks include management of academic staff, research assistants, annual budget monitoring/reporting and chairing board meetings.
Is it 9-5?
The hours involved in this role require a traditional nine to five routine with additional evenings as and when required, depending on research and consultancy project deadlines.
How did you get into this line of work?
From studying my A-levels, my original plan was to study English and history but after working in a local business during my gap year I decided to change my plans and was given an offer to study business at the University of Ulster.
After studying for my retail degree I became interested in research in the sector and specifically SMEs and embarked upon a PhD programme. It was less of a plan and more of a doing what I enjoyed and the fact that I could fit my studies around my family life that appealed to me.
I’m also married to the owner of a retail business so that influenced me. The opportunity for a management role at the university came along two years ago and it seemed a natural progression from the lecturing role I had held for over seven years.
Outline your career to date?
In January 2012, at the age of 35, I became the youngest female head of department on the Coleraine campus of the Ulster Business School, University of Ulster.
As one of the largest providers of business and management education and training in Britain and Ireland, the Ulster Business School has approximately 140 academic staff and over 5,000 students located on the Jordanstown, Belfast, Magee and Coleraine campuses.
Tell us about your qualifications/training.
In 2000, I graduated from the Ulster Business School with a first class honours degree in retail and distribution management and after two years studying as a PhD student, I was appointed as a lecturer in the department. I went on to successfully complete my PhD in international business in 2006.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of your work?
I firmly believe that in the public sector while administration is a focus point of any management role (and there is always a mountain of paperwork), that people — staff and students alike — are our true assets. Therefore my work motto — and daily challenge — is ‘people before paper’.
In addition to my new leadership role, I am still involved in significant research and consultancy projects and as a result of this work over the past seven years, I have developed a strong international research profile in the area of retailing and SMEs.
My work has been published in a wide range of international business and management journals and I have given presentations at numerous international conferences.
Currently my research work focuses on the support and growth of Northern Ireland retailers both small and large, looking at the Mary Portas review of town centres.
I’m investigating how these retailers can implement successful strategies to counter the threat of multi-national retail expansion in out-of-town developments.
As a result of this research profile, I have become a well-known commentator on retail and business issues in the media, regularly called upon for my expert opinion in news and current affairs on national TV programmes, newspapers and trade publications.
What qualities are required for your job — personal and professional?
With any new appointment and role in an organisation, I have found it important to find time for personal and professional development by reviewing my progress and training needs on a regular basis. This includes taking time to read new material and meet leaders in industry who offer advice and are a source of inspiration.
An additional dimension to my career development has been external appointments — currently I hold the following posts: chair of marketing and retailing at the British Academy of Management and director of the Causeway Enterprise Agency Board.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I live in the seaside village of Castlerock, on the north coast of Northern Ireland with my husband Ali and my three children Zachary (14) Finlay (12) and Grace (4). In my spare time I love to run on the beach and take time to walk with the family and our dog in the nearby forest.
Also a keen reader, I am part of the local book club and love to get lost in a good book, but only when I can find the time between the demands of work and family life!
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
Some people find the fact that I’m the eldest of seven children quite surprising.
Growing up in a busy household must have agreed with me as I was married at 19 years old and started my own family aged 22. I studied for my degree, had my first child and by the time I completed my PhD I had two children.
Who has inspired you most in your life?
My family has always been a source of inspiration for me — firstly, coming from a big family and now having three children of my own, I have always appreciated the value of family.
Work is only one part of my life so it was always important that my chosen career fitted with my home life.
Inspiration also comes from a variety of sources. I think it is important to keep abreast of developments in the business world on a daily basis but also to keep connected with real businesses in order to understand the challenges and trends in the sector.
Inspiration can also come from unexpected sources and that has included my children and undergraduate students.