With the constant sound of the phones ringing, and the continuous buzz of office chatter, it’s a great feeling to have everyone back in the office again after all having to work from home for the last few months. Even Peanut & Arlo, our Firstpoint furry friends, are delighted to be back and keep chasing each other around the office!
Still buzzing from being shortlisted as Finalists for the Bristol Life Awards, and excited to welcome another 2 new members to the FIrstpoint family, there is certainly lots of positive energy flowing around the office.
In case you’ve missed what’s been going on, here is a quick summary of our latest news:
Since welcoming Liam Burke back in May as Technical Client Account Manager to help facilitate the growing demand for Import & Export services, July has seen the addition of 2 further members, now taking the team to 10 people.
At the beginning of July we welcomed Andy Beaven as Client Account Support.
Andy’s main role is to support our expanding Client Account Management team in helping to ensure that our clients’ needs are well looked after – from the moment an order is received, throughout its journey with us, all the way through to when the delivery is complete, and beyond!
With a background in Retail environment, Andy has a genuine passion for customer service and loves to help people. A couple of months into his new role Andy has really hit the ground running and is already proving to be a real asset to the team.
Nisha Arshad, Financial Controller
Nisha is the newest addition to Firstpoint and has joined us in the role of Financial Controller. She has experience in finance dating back to 1995 including valuable time spent in the corporate world.
Since moving to Bristol from London to marry her partner and bringing up her young family she has been freelancing to keep her mathematical brain ticking along. She has very quickly been nicknamed the ‘smiling assassin’ for her ability to get what she needs to fulfil her job role!
However at 4ft 10 she is also known as the ‘Pocket Rocket’ and portable steps have been introduced into the staff kitchen to enable her to reach the tea bags!!
We may have mentioned it a few times on social media so apologies if we keep going on about it! But then it’s not every day you get shortlisted for an award, and to be honest, we’re still feeling pretty chuffed about it.
Whilst it was somewhat a surprise to be selected as a Finalist out of so many other amazing businesses throughout Bristol, with all the hard work that the team has put in over the past 12 months, it feels great to be recognised for our efforts. With only a few months to go until the big night directors Chris and Duncan have already dug out their penguin suits from the back of the cupboard. Not surprisingly they were pretty dusty, and perhaps more upsettingly, a little tight! But that’s ok, there’s plenty of time to sort that out. Isn’t there?!?!?
As always, we’re always looking at how we can continue to expand and enhance the services we offer to our clients. This month we are pleased to report that we have invested in new software which gives us a direct link into the HMRC CHIEF system enabling us to process all Import/Export customs declarations (rather than through a third party). With the whole process now completed in-house, clients will benefit from a much faster and more efficient service.