Fay is one of the Marketing Managers at Business West overseeing the marketing for several projects including the Local Skills Improvement Plans.

We chatted to Fay about her role, what a typical week looks like for her and her idea of a perfect Sunday. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and your career background? 

After school, I went to Cardiff University to study Journalism, Film and Media. Once graduated, I worked several interesting(!) temp jobs before I landed my first marketing role working at a solicitors in Cheltenham, which was certainly a baptism of fire! Since then I’ve worked for a variety of businesses and industries in marketing roles, including recruitment, technology and business services. I joined Business West nearly 6 and a half years ago as a Marketing Executive (originally on a 9 month contract!) and have worked my way up to my role now, as Marketing Manager for Contracts. 

What is your current role at Business West? 

Currently I work as a Marketing Manager, looking after some of our public sector contracts, which includes the Local Skills Improvement Plans and other projects – Social Economy West, Tech for Growth and Somerset Innovation Network. I work with two Marketing Executives who help with the LSIP and Somerset Innovation Network projects, as well as Project Managers and other Marketing colleagues who work on different projects throughout Business West. 

What does a typical week look like for you? 

The thing about marketing is, there’s quite a lot of variety so I wouldn’t say there is a typical week. Generally I will catch up with the various people and teams I work with to discuss where we are at with certain projects and plan future campaigns. There will probably be email campaigns to put together or proofread, social media posts to publish, perhaps a press release to write about a new project or service, updates to the website, design work and planning to do. It’s usually always busy and varied, which I like.  

What is the most challenging aspect of your role? 

Trying to juggle projects can be quite challenging, ensuring I’m giving enough time and the appropriate attention to each one. In terms of the LSIP, it’s prioritising work when things are busy, but also deciding what messages to put out there and how to try and grab businesses attention about why they should be engaging with the work the team are doing. 

Why should business engage with the LSIP? 

The LSIPs provide a great opportunity for businesses to feed into their region’s future skills strategy by giving them the chance to openly discuss their skills needs with our team, peers and stakeholders. Business can get involved by attending one of our events, booking a 1-2-1 discussion or scheduling a skills clinic slot. 

What’s your idea of a Perfect Sunday? 

Waking up without an alarm to a mild, sunny day. A dog walk, followed by a roast dinner in a country pub, or some drinks in the pub garden. Finished off with seeing family and friends in the evening for a games night or a cosy night in with a film.