which is when the idea for Box Office Group was born. Now, as MD of Box Office Group, I am able to deliver not only chauffeur services but also a full concierge and security service to our VIP and celebrity clients from our central London office. I want to get the message across that if I hadn’t been a PA, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It was the best education I could have had and I’m a much more rounded business person because of it.
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED WAS... The world of chauffeuring and logistics is very much a male-dominated industry, and I am still only 26 – but clients don’t care, as long as they receive a professional 1st class service and the accompanying attention to detail to make sure that their needs are met. But I did have to learn how best to handle chauffeurs and secu- rity staff, 99 per cent of whom are men and many of whom are former police or
Forces personnel, often close to twice my age. I have learned more tact, and while I still respect my elders, I respect them even more when they deliver the service that I have promised! On the thankfully rare occasions I’ve had to do so, I found disciplining those old enough to be my father rather disconcerting, but have learned to be confident and to deal only in facts, rather than emotion.
THE BEST ADVICE I WAS GIVEN WAS... It is actually one of my father’s favourite sayings, to fight the battles you can win. Running my own business means that I feel everything so much more keenly than I did working for others. No matter how unfair or unjust, there is absolutely no benefit in fighting with clients. If there's an issue, that's nothing but an opportunity for me to take care of it, make the customer happy, and get some return business. E
2011 2011 2013 2013
Returned to the UK to work for a chauffeur company
Gained chauffeuring licence
Founded Box Office
Opened offices in central London, in Hollywood and at Elstree Studios
THREE THINGS I LEARNT AS A PA...
1Learn, learn, learn! I have worked for both good and bad people – from the good I’ve learned how to do things, from the bad how not to do them.
2Be prepared – I love that old saying, ‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’. This not only comes in useful when planning on behalf of clients but is also fundamental to how I run Box Office – at every stage, I try to think through every eventuality.
3Treat others as you’d like to be treated – I always think a useful barometer of a person’s personality is how they treat one of our chauffeurs, whether they abuse someone in a perceived position of servility.
2014
Plans are afoot to open an office in Ireland
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 |
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