UK small business essential services provider Verastar invited employees to discuss gender norms during its inaugural Celebrating Women in Verastar event on International Women’s Day (#IWD) Wednesday 8th March.
More than 130 attendees (male, female and non-binary) took part …
Krystal is responsible for creating and executing an effective retention and renewal strategy.
“My aim is to ensure Verastar offers innovative solutions, superior service and competitive propositions to all customers so they see the benefits of continuing to work with us.”
Krystal has a successful track record in the Telecommunications industry, working her way up from frontline roles to holding senior roles at Virgin Media Business and Talk Talk Business before joining Verastar. Krystal has specialised in driving performance, employee engagement and customer satisfaction which has resulted in winning a few awards along the way.
Krystal loves sport and exercise and previous played in the Sky Sports Netball Superleague!
Rachel is responsible for the Retentions and Collections department at Verastar.
“My aim is to continue to support our growth strategy by working with colleagues to drive value through great customer interactions and outcomes. We aim to ensure customers stay with us and that we provide them with the right level of support and service to help manage their invoices.”
After a decade working for British Gas in Collections & leading MI teams, Rachel left in 2010 to head up Virgin Media Business’s Collections and Credit Risk team. In 2015 she moved into Fintech where she led the Global Collections function for Worldpay (now FIS). While at Worldpay she completed a master’s degree in Leadership & International Payments, awarded by Middlesex University.
Rachel has two children in their teens, a husband and a dog who keep her extremely busy. She loves going to the gym with her family and, with a rugby player and a rugby coach in the family, they spend a lot of their free time watching rugby and supporting their local club.
Holly is responsible for development and delivery of company strategy and programme delivery.
“My aim is to ensure that change management and project management principles are effectively implemented throughout the company as we continue to rapidly grow, ensuring we grow in the correct way for long-term success. I am an advocate of continuous improvement and feel this is key in delivering value for our customers and shareholders in the most efficient way. The business has so many great ideas and opportunities, it’s essential that I pull them all together in a concise, efficient programme.”
Holly studied Operations and Technology Management at The University of Manchester and joined Verastar as part of the Graduate Management Programme in 2009. After a year spent in each operational function, she spent the next year improving processes and systems which led to her starting the Project Management Team, which she now heads up.
She enjoys the variety her role offers and has been involved in a wide range of initiatives, from acquisitions to launching new brands to entering newly deregulated markets. She also enjoys the variety that family life offers, from Taylor Swift concerts to trips to Disneyland Paris.
Stacey is responsible for customer care and delivering outstanding experience for all customers within the Verastar Group.
“My aim is to ensure our customer-facing colleagues are equipped with the right tools and training to deliver outstanding service for every single customer. I’m a firm believer in placing the customer at the heart of everything you do, always thinking as a customer and putting yourself in their shoes.”
With 15 years’ experience leading customer service teams, Stacey has a fantastic track record of setting new service standards within global brands like Virgin and Experian. Stacey is passionate about understanding customers and what their needs are, in order to deliver simple, brilliant service. Her ethos is that delivering the basics well, and consistently, is the foundation of great customer service.
In her spare time Stacey spends time with her family enjoying days in the peak district cycling, walking and enjoying the fresh country air.
Spencer is responsible for delivering Verastar’s major technology projects and driving digital transformation across the group.
“My aim is to support transformational change within Verastar by implementing new technology systems and improving existing ones to meet the evolving needs of the business and its customers. Digital transformations are really business transformations, with technology as the enabler.”
In a career spanning 30 years in the IT sector, Spencer has managed transformative technology and business change projects for a range of organisations in the UK and across Europe, from large blue chip organisations to smaller, bespoke operators. Throughout his career, Spencer has consistently built and managed successful teams and transformed organisations by empowering individuals and promoting a positive ethos. When delivering technology projects, he is unwavering in his focus on customer experience and satisfaction.
In his spare time, Spencer enjoys life on two wheels and the feel of rubber on the road as he cycles competitively.
Jo is responsible for the people agenda for Verastar which includes HR, Recruitment, Facilities and Training.
“My aim for the business is to build and implement a really engaging colleague agenda that gives people a career rather than just a job. We strive to give people from all backgrounds options and choices for their lives, and to add value wherever we can. Essentially, we want everyone, from all works of life, to be their best.”
Wanting to be part of a dynamic growing company, Jo joined Verastar in August 2016 looking to drive real change which would develop our workforce. Since then, she is proud to have been part of the gender pay gap review, the introduction of pay progression which links rewards to development and the graduate scheme investing in young talent.
Jo graduated with a degree in History and Psychology and a Masters in Human Resource Management. Starting out as a Hotel Receptionist, Jo worked her way up and has held various HR roles in companies across many sectors including financial services, legal, travel and facilities services.
Jo’s home-life with her husband and 4-year old daughter is busy and fulfilling, with organisation being key. She is a keen runner and completes half-marathons on a regular basis.
Pete is responsible for cross-sell activity across all Verastar brands as well as managing the new-business side of the Water product.
“My aim is to help our customers save both time and money by consolidating more essential services onto one bill, and ensuring they receive fantastic customer service.”
Pete joined Verastar in February 2020, having managed in contact centres for 14 years. He has previously worked for corporate organisations including TalkTalk and most recently Barclays. Most of Pete’s career development came whilst working in the outsourcing industry for eight years, where he progressed from Team Leader to the roles of Site Director and Operations Director. During this time Pete managed all aspects of a contact centre.
Pete is very happily married and has two young children who keep him very busy. He is happiest when he has time to exercise and relax with the family.
Helen is responsible for delivering the overall vision and strategy for insurance within Verastar, driving continued growth at our insurance brand, The Insurance Octopus.
“My aim for The Insurance Octopus is to continue to deliver a truly personalised service to our customers by offering tailored insurance policies.”
“As a business our goal is to take the complexity out of insurance and make it simple and straightforward to our customers, and our team does exactly that. I am passionate about creating a work environment that allows my team to feel happy, fulfilled and motivated in their careers, which in turn contributes significantly to maintaining our exceptional customer service.”
Helen joined The Insurance Octopus in 2009 and has built an extensive career through working with multiple departments and has had an influence over all aspects of the business. Over the last 11 years, Helen has been instrumental in the business’s success and has helped to grow The Insurance Octopus from a start-up, to now an established commercial insurance broker with 35,000 customers and an established panel of UK insurers.
Outside of the office, Helen enjoys family life with her husband and two young children. She loves to spend as much time as possible with family and friends, with great food and travelling to new places.
Georgina is responsible for the customer strategy for the business, heading up the sales and customer service functions.
“My aim for Verastar is to ensure our customer contact strategy is as simple and effective as possible. That means we contact customers in the right way at the right time, and when they want to contact us they can do so in the way they want. Our customers are busy running their businesses, so it’s our job to be straightforward to contact when they need us.”
Georgina joined Verastar in 2021, attracted by the ambition and scope of the business. She brings significant leadership experience and telecoms expertise, having formerly held the position of Managing Director at internet service provider Zen Internet and senior roles within Virgin Media Business and Intercity Technology.
When she’s not building high-performing teams and delivering fantastic results at work, Georgina enjoys long walks with her dogs in the Cheshire countryside.
Jon leads Verastar across product development, data, marketing and brand, alongside a focus on developing M&A activity, partnerships and new business opportunities.
“My aim for Verastar is to demonstrate to small businesses that they don’t have to settle for the traditional suppliers and accept the status quo. There’s a better option.”
Jon has significant experience across a number of Verastar’s product verticals, having held senior roles within the consumer and wholesale divisions at TalkTalk and most recently as Strategy director at the independent ISP Zen Internet. He previously worked at EE as part of the original joint venture between Orange & T-Mobile in the consumer mobile division and was a part of the EE brand launch. He qualified as an accountant during his time with E.ON UK where he was a finance business partner in the retail SME division.
Passionate about optimising the use of data to drive better business decisions, Jon is responsible for developing Verastar’s product portfolio and for bringing our wide-ranging offering into a single go-to-market proposition that makes perfect sense for our customers.
Away from work Jon is kept busy with four young children and the family enjoy UK holidays in Cornwall and the Lakes. When a creaking body allows, Jon is a keen distance runner and road cyclist around the Derbyshire and Staffordshire area.
Lee is responsible for delivering Verastar’s overall vision and strategy, driving continued growth and ensuring that customer and colleague experience is placed at the heart of everything we do.
“My aim for Verastar is to continue the fantastic work of our dedicated colleagues which began back in 1998, developing and improving our products and services as we continue to grow. This is a hugely exciting company and it does things that no other service provider can do. I want to bring that unique offering to new audiences.
With 160,000 business customers on our books, we are well positioned to be a barometer for the needs of small businesses and my aim is to build on the fantastic relationships we have with our customers and become a true champion of the UK’s small businesses.”
Lee joined Verastar in 2020 and has an extensive background in telecoms and technology, having held senior positions with Virgin Media Business, Intercity Technology, UKFast and TalkTalk Business.
Passionate about improving customer experience and implementing digital technology, Lee has a track record of modernising processes, accelerating commerce and delivering significant financial growth. He has a BSc in Political Economy and sits on the Board of Trustees at The University of Salford.
A former semi-pro footballer, Lee originally hails from the North East of England, but now lives with his wife Melissa and their three beautiful children in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
Dave is responsible for all our regional offices.
‘My aim is to create highly motivated fun places to be in all of my offices, where staff have a great work ethic: There is little success where there is little laughter.’
Dave joined Verastar in 2000 as a sales person and was the driving force behind the openings of all of our regional offices.
Dave has 35 years of B2B and B2C sales experience. He prides himself on being an open-minded, not judging people on their academical achievements and loves people with big personalities that he can teach the art of sales.
Outside work, Dave likes to spend time at home with his beautiful wife who he met during his time at Verastar and his son Joseph. Joseph happens to be a keen fundraiser and has raised thousands of pounds for Manchester Children’s Hospital by climbing the county’s highest mountains.
Gillian is responsible for the Legal, Compliance and Customer Resolution teams at Verastar.
“My aim is to ensure that we meet our legal and regulatory obligations to customers, suppliers, employees and our regulators and that we treat customers fairly. Employees who feel they are treated fairly are more likely to treat customers the same way.”
Gillian joined Verastar in 2015 to set up our Legal and Compliance Teams. She started out her legal career in an international law firm, but realised she wanted to work in industry following a secondment to Granada TV. She has worked in many different sectors from telecoms to software escrow, information security and aerospace and spent time working at companies BAE, O2 and NCC Group.
At home, Gillian lives with her husband and two teenage boys. She enjoys long walks and spending time in sunny Mallorca!
Nicola is responsible for the commercial strategy for the business.
“My aim for Verastar is to maintain our position as a market-leading services provider by offering the widest range of services to the UK’s SME market all on one bill. Our business is making services simple for our customers, so they can focus on running theirs.”
Nicola joined Verastar in 2012 and has been integral in transforming Verastar into a multi-service provider through identifying and creating opportunities for new market entrants. She played a key part in the deregulation of England’s water market as part of the Defra Assurance group and the Water Code Panel.
Starting her career in 1995 in the then newly deregulated Energy market she’s developed business strategies and customer propositions to challenge incumbent providers in new markets. Her business focus has ranged from Energy, Telecoms and most recently Water in Scotland and England.
Away from the office she enjoys family life with her husband and two children and is happiest on the beach in Wales with a book in her hand.
Paul is responsible for the finance across the Verastar Group
“By continuing to support growth and product expansion, my aim for Verastar is to continue our journey in becoming the provider of choice for essential business services. Our goal is to make the lives of business owners as easy as possible with our multi-service offering, on a unique one-bill solution.”
Paul, a KPMG Chartered Accountant, joined Verastar in 2011, shortly after the Management Buyout. Since then, he has assisted in driving the growth of our product portfolio alongside the company’s revenue and profitability.
A graduate of the University of Leicester, Paul spent 10 years working in a variety of roles in consumer healthcare at SSL International before it was sold for £2.5 billion. Paul then went on to the role of interim CFO before joining the Verastar team.
Paul’s claim to fame is that his dad played for Manchester United (that he happens to support) and was a Busby Babe. He is happily married with three lovely children.
Richard is responsible for all technology, company billing and management information.
“My aim is to constantly push boundaries and timescales using technology to drive Verastar’s competitive edge in the market. We’re unrelenting in our push to improve our systems for both internal users and provide customers a seamless experience. When combined with our clear vision and strategy it allows us to be extremely agile without compromising on strong future proof and sustainable solutions.”
Richard and his team work methodically and clinically, always to a plan, ensuring both business and technology change is approached with the right amount of governance and minimal red tape. With the rate of change in business and technology, Richard believes the key to current and future success is not to compromise on our incredibly strong technical, business foundations and values while ensuring our systems and processes have a high degree of inbuilt flexibility.
Richard started out at Samsung, and also spent time at Heinz and SSL international (owner of Durex and Scholl). He spent many of the previous 20 years on high value business and technology change around the globe with all the stamps to prove it. His whole career to date has been spent changing platforms to provide growth.