How do you get ready to start your day?
I normally go for a walk before work, usually walking my boys to the village school. This is only about a mile each way but helps create that separation between the morning routine and the start of the working day. I also feed our animals in this time; we have a small flock of Suffolk Cross lambs, that our children enjoyed bottle feeding in the spring.
What is something you do every day without fail?
Exercise – I try to go for a run every lunchtime. I feel so much more productive, energised and focused when I have exercised, and I like to break up the working day. I did a ‘lockdown marathon’ (very slowly) in March and have signed up for the Great South Run in October.
What’s the most enjoyable part of your working day?
I think that our restructuring team is very strong with different team members having different areas of expertise and specialisms. I enjoy talking through issues with our team and then providing directors with proactive and commercial solutions to their specific problems.
What’s changed about your typical day in the last five years?
We have three children aged six or under, so my life has changed considerably over the last few years. I have always been a morning person, but my days are starting earlier than ever before and I wasn’t watching quite as much Peppa Pig before the children came along!
What is the most satisfying part of what you do?
I like the variety – you never know when a new piece of work will come in and no two assignments are ever the same. I also enjoy the fact that a career in restructuring exposes you to many different sectors and you meet numerous interesting characters along the way.
How have you adapted to working from home?
I have really enjoyed working from home since the start of the pandemic. The lack of commute has given me four extra hours a day, and the opportunity to spend more time with my family has been life changing. It’s been great having evenings again and being able to spend more time in the countryside. However, that being said, I can see the benefits of office working too – interaction with colleagues being the main one. Hopefully, the hybrid, flexible working model will allow us to enjoy the best of both worlds!
What is one of your work goals for 2021?
I’m looking forward to catching up with all my contacts that I haven’t been able to see face-to-face over the course of the pandemic – video calls just aren’t the same!
Milton Keynes