Name: Ruth Myatt
Job title: UK & Ireland Supply Chain Planner, Pack Build
Tell us a bit about yourself
Married to Andy whom I met at work nearly 20 years ago (yes there was somebody mad enough to take me on!) I have two grown-up stepdaughters and four grandchildren. My happy place is either sitting poolside or a night on the dancefloor, even if I do resemble a frog in a blender.
Describe your job to a five-year-old
I make sure that we have enough toilets and basins and taps then I ask a team of people to put them into a big box so that we can send them to people living with disabilities to make their life easier.
What do you like most about your job?
Apart from the people I work with, I love that I have a great degree of control and freedom within my job, being trusted to produce high-quality work and results. I work hard to maintain that level of trust, which keeps me engaged
How did you get here?
I started work in 1985 earning a princely sum of £25 per week. I was part of an intake on the now defunct Youth Training Scheme, where we worked in different departments for three months at a time.
I started in sales, moving into accounts and then into the transport office where I found my first job (we had our own fleet of vehicles then). From there I moved into the distribution centre and then eventually into Supply Chain.
Being in all these areas has given me an insight into how the business works both operationally and commercially. It has also afforded me the opportunity to build a network of contacts across the business which is vital for the role I perform.
What motivates you?
Using my problem-solving skills, hard work and perseverance to overcome a challenge is personally satisfying. Successfully completing a task accurately and on time motivates me to do a good job.
If you could swap jobs with anyone, who would it be?
In typical Gemini fashion it always changes, but off the top of my head I can think of two which have always bubbled away in the back of my brain:
Travel Blogger (who doesn’t want to get paid for going to beautiful destinations, staying at the best hotels and eating marvellous food?) or a Paramedic. Two quite polar opposites…
Your favourite song lyric or line from a film
Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn! (Gone with the Wind)
Your favourite app?
Facebook, but only because I am nosy and I like to see what the kids are up to!!
Biggest facepalm moment at work?
There a quite a few from my early years at work, none of which I am prepared to commit to paper!
I had not long started work in the warehouse and did blow up two kettles in one day (both owned by my then manager) by not putting enough water in them. Suffice to say that nobody asks me to make them a cup of coffee anymore…