A Day in the Life of an Office Manager

This month we caught up with our Office Manager, Gareth.

What is your background and how long have you worked at Hopewiser?

I have been working at Hopewiser for nearly 10 years.

I started in October 2010 on a Business Administration apprenticeship through Skills Solutions. During my apprenticeship, I worked in the Marketing department cleansing data on CRM. After 9 months, Hopewiser offered me a permanent position at the company where I was able to finish my apprenticeship and move on to an internal development scheme. I continued to cleanse data as well as working within different departments, completing projects, and developing my skills.

At the end of 2012, Hopewiser offered me the opportunity to start working in the Admininistration Department where I have since managed the paper and digital filing systems, dispatched the daily post and quarterly software updates, as well as many other duties. Over the last few years, I have taken on office management responsibilities and started managing the contracts and relationships with suppliers and our front of house.

Describe a typical day in your job?

There isn’t a typical day because my job is so varied. On most days, I’m filing and liaising with suppliers, but on others I can be dispatching software updates to organising unblocking toilets.

What do you enjoy most in your role?

The thing I enjoy most in my role is the variety because it means I’m always doing something different. I also enjoy liaising with suppliers and our employees here, to make sure all aspects of office life runs smoothly.

Hopewiser owns a large building, what do you find most challenging in your role as Facilities Manager?

The most challenging aspect of my role is arranging for contractors to carry out work and chasing them for quotations.

What green facilities has Hopewiser put in place over the last few years?

We have made many changes over the last few years to reduce our carbon footprint, such as installing solar panels on the roof and LED lighting throughout the office. Additionally, we have introduced new boilers to heat the building and insulation to reduce the heat escaping through the roof. When our gas and electricity contracts come up for renewal we will consider switching to renewable energy sources.

We have reduced single use plastics by switching back to glass milk bottles and over the next year or so, we are going to further reduce single use plastics by changing to paper cups for our water coolers. Lastly, we recycle our paper waste, printer cartridges and old computer equipment.

Health & Safety is key in today’s workplace, how do you make sure that Hopewiser are compliant?

We have always taken Health & Safety seriously and include all of our employees in ensuring we are compliant. An employee from each department fills out a form every month to highlight any issues and we remind employees of their duty to do so. I always keep the staff up to date when we have contractors working in the building so they can avoid any high risk areas.