Office Manager
The Paper Company

Martin S

00:00:02 My name is Martin S, I work for M6 Paper, part of Paper Company and I’m the office manager for Leeds. My job entails managing a busy office through paper work, logistics, purchasing, sales and general supply of paper to customers. I enjoy dealing with lots of different aspects of the business and dealing with generally a lot of different people within different roles.

00:00:25 I was very organised at school. I liked doing maths and science and particularly business studies and learning about how business worked and how companies made money. When I was at school I always wanted to move into business, something, you know, clerical so to speak rather than something manual. I wanted to basically work in an office with people of a similar mind set and skill to myself. I did a business studies course at college and basically it inspired me to get into business as soon as possible.

00:00:59 I wanted to go out there and basically get a job, make some money and hopefully make a difference. Both my parents were chartered accountants and one of them was actually a professor at Leeds University. I think a lot of my family would have probably preferred me to go to university but realised at the time that probably wasn’t the best career choice for myself and it’s worked out quite well in the end and I’ve done quite well for myself.

00:01:24 The company I first started working for was actually quite close to the school I went to. A position became available in a sales executive role for which I applied for and got the job. I then was in that role for approximately six years. The career path was limited to waiting for somebody either to move on retire before I could move into another job role. So, short of leaving the actual office where I worked and going elsewhere there wasn’t very much available for career progression.

00:02:00 Certainly a turning point within my working life was when I was made redundant. It possibly gave me the kick up the back side I needed and progressed my career along when it might not have done had it not happened. An office manager’s position had come up within another company within the group for which I applied and got the job.

00:02:22 Outside of work I play a lot of sport. I play for my local 11 a-side football team and play a lot of golf. I think playing sport has definitely helped me in my career. It builds a good sense of team work and an opportunity for people to work well together. A lot of the corporate events are actually golf events and it’s good for meeting suppliers and meeting customers and generally discussing things when people are little bit more relaxed. I’ve always been interested in sports or to learn a new sport or play a new sport was obviously an advantage to myself.

00:02:57 I think meeting my fiancée was definitely a turning point in my life. She gave me a lot more drive and ambition and is definitely a driving force behind my career path. She’s very ambitious is my fiancée and a lot of that has rubbed off on myself and made me want to create a better job for myself.

00:03:18 I’d like to progress through levels of management and, you know, obviously the top of that chain is managing director of, or business unit director of the company I work for. Eventually that is something I would aspire to and obviously a lot of hard work is in between.

ENDS