Having been in IT since time immemorial (well it does feel that way at times), I have mainly been involved in Operations or Operations Support roles for the majority of my working life. From the early beginnings with a car manufacturer (when IT was known as Data Processing, so shows you how long ago it was!), I have primarily worked in the Banking sector – until I was convinced (or was that blackmailed!?) that perhaps working for yourself was a better idea…..and from this little acorn, the oak tree that has become Purple Griffon was established.
So, Steve and I were the founding members back in 2002, and from these small beginnings, we believe that we have set up a training and consultancy company that really cares what the customer wants or needs - flexibility is in our nature.
I primarily focus on the day to day operation of the business, a key aspect of which includes the diversification of our portfolio of services and expansion in to new market sectors.
As a lead consultant and trainer, I help organisations improve their internal working processes and advise on many aspects of overall business improvement.
Lesley Wilkinson - Head of Business Development
As Head of Business Development I am responsible for sales, marketing and business development within Purple Griffon, as well as overall company growth.
Purple Griffon’s approach is centred around outstanding customer service, in particular understanding customer requirements and suggesting the right solution. My main responsibilities include identifying sales leads, pitching services to existing and potential customers and maintaining good working relationships.
Outside of Purple Griffon, I have 12 hens, 2 dogs and 1 holiday cottage, but no partridge or a pear tree!
I’ve been in sales all my working life and I have worked in the ITIL® and PRINCE2® arena for over 10 years. With a successful track record of working with small, medium, and corporate organisations, I love helping my customers find the right training courses that will help advance their career prospects and benefit their organisation as a whole. Exceeding my sales targets whenever possible, I like to celebrate this with a glass of wine or two.
As a Senior Account Manager at Purple Griffon my role focuses on maximising sales while working alongside our larger partners and corporate customers. Maintaining a high standard of customer service is a key aspect of my role and this forms the basis of all my interactions with customers, both old and new.
I work part time at Purple Griffon as an account manager. I work with our customers to help establish their individual training needs and provide them with a customer focused solution that will enable their employees to maximise their potential and provide benefit to their organisation.
Over the 6 years I have worked here I have developed some large corporate accounts, many within the NHS and have also helped individuals with their training plans.
Within my role at Purple Griffon, I establish and develop online relationships and engage with communities for promotional campaigns. I actively monitor the performance of our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc), organise our email marketing and maintain data integrity for all of our internal databases.
I'm an all-round techie, resident Marvel & DC expert, Whovian and Game of Thrones fan. I am also responsible for the daily stock check of the Purple Griffon tuck shop.
My main responsibility is looking after the health and welfare of the team of Purple Griffon course elves who toil away in the Lake District sunshine to make PG courses as successful as possible.
At Purple Griffon, I enjoy delivering Service Management training to delegates on both public and on-site courses. In each case, the goal is not just to get delegates a pass on the exam, but to enable them to learn something useful that can be applied in their work.
Purple Griffon recently delivered 2 service management courses for the MOD and we all found it to be a very positive experience. The Company is very professional, with extremely knowledgeable and experienced trainers, who have real world skills.
The training was organised well, administrative help was quick and relevant which made the information gathering and training preparations fast & easy. The trainer was knowledgeable and experienced. We’ve received very good feedback.
I passed! which I must admit was 100% down to your trainer Bob. He gave us enough stories and tips to get me through it and sometimes the stories sink in better than anything else. Thanks again, I'd definitely use your company again because of him.
Feedback from staff has been positive and your expertise has helped our organisation to effectively embed the ITIL® framework into our working processes and achieve key organisational goals. We look forward to continuing with rest of our ITIL® courses throughout the year.
I have self funded several courses with Purple Griffon over the last few years - and passed each one of my exams to gain ITIL® Expert accreditation. This wouldn't have been possible without the help and encouragement from my account manager Debbie and the extensive knowledge shared by my tutors Bob and Mike. Both of them have always been available to offer problem solutions long after the courses have finished - this sets Purple Griffon apart and makes them my first choice of training provider.
