Can you tell us about your role at NEPO?
I’m very new to my role here at NEPO, as a relationships and partnerships specialist on our construction team, having been appointed in September. The purpose of my role is to build and develop relationships with our key stakeholders to drive the business forward.
So far in the role, I’ve been linking up with some of our associate members to find out how they use the NEPO solutions currently and looking at what more we can do to benefit their business in the future. I’ve absolutely loved meeting people from such a range of backgrounds and finding ways to partner in new and innovative ways.
Why did you want to work at NEPO?
I’ve spent the last 16 years of my career working for a North East charity and, in recent years, predominantly working within engagement roles. I have built up my skills and experience to be able to engage with anyone, from young people, stakeholders and community groups to education providers, employers and job centres. Working in the public sector, I had heard of NEPO but wasn’t aware of just how easily accessible it was to smaller charities or how wide the range of frameworks were. Procurement was never an area I’d considered but when I saw the role advertised, I realised the transferable skills I’d learnt were exactly what were needed for this role. I was excited for a new challenge and to see how I could mould my knowledge and experience to support the aims of NEPO. Now that I’m in the role, I’m even more keen to link with charities and smaller businesses to show them that NEPO is for everyone and that there is so much benefit to them from accessing the solutions on offer.
Who is in your team?
The construction team at NEPO are fantastic and have a wealth of knowledge, skills and years of experience between them. The construction team is expertly lead by Jane Turner (construction lead), we also have two fabulous procurement coordinators, Andrea Cellini and Claire Darling Cooper, as well as Callum Thompson who is our solutions performance coordinator and the go-to for all contract management queries. Together, there doesn’t seem to be anything they don’t have an answer to and they all excel in driving the culture of NEPO within all that they do.
What do you think are the opportunities going forward?
We are one of the leading construction framework providers in the North East, and I think we have a fantastic opportunity to develop this outside of the region through our huge number of frameworks that are available. Our wide range of frameworks have the very best suppliers and our route to market is quick, easy and reliable. We are building our excellent reputation every single day and we have a huge opportunity to push this further through networking, events and social media to reach a wider market and get the NEPO name out far and wide.
I think there is a huge gap in the market for smaller VCSEs to access our solutions and I see this as an opportunity to create a better partnership with all our existing, as well as potential, member associates, to bridge the gap and support them to access our wide range of solutions on offer. There are relationships to be made, money to be saved and work to be given to our North East suppliers and I’m looking forward to taking the opportunity to make that happen.
How do you like to unwind outside of work?
I’m very much a believer in a well-balanced lifestyle so I love taking part in all types of exercise (as much as possible) but I also have a love of food (again, as much as possible) – see, balanced! I love boxing and running and I’m currently organising a Coast-2-Coast bike ride with the NEPO team next year. I love to motivate others to become more active as I know the huge benefit this has both mentally and physically. On the flip side of that, I’m an absolute feeder and enjoy nothing more than baking an ‘artery-clogging’ (as the most recent staff review described it) cornflake tart. Both the consumption of, and the burning of, calories, is my favourite way to wind down!