Posted on: 23rd May 2024, by Magrathea
Alison started here in 2018, helping to check carrier routes. We last caught up with her 3 years ago when she was working in porting and sales support and we now find her working as Strategic Assistant to Tracey our MD – so we thought we’d catch up with her to find out how things are going.
- You’ve been here a while and had different roles, what do you enjoy about working here?
I really enjoy being part of a team where everyone is so supportive and passionate about what they do.
The directors and founding team have created a fantastic working environment which encourages everyone to bring the best version of themselves to work and cares about our well-being. I feel supported in learning new things as well as being able to use my existing skills and knowledge. I knew nothing about telecoms before joining Magrathea and working here only came about by chance; it just shows that you never quite know where life is going to take you but being open to new things is really important. I feel very fortunate to work here.
- Your current role is relatively new for the business so what does a strategic assistant do every day?
As a summary I would say that I support Tracey and the team in setting out and achieving our business goals and plans. Tracey is very organised and her love of lists is legendary, so the day to day of my work is always led by those lists. That means I get involved with anything from helping with recruitment to making the tea; both of which can be equally important in keeping things on track. It means every day is completely different and I’m never quite sure which skill set I might need to draw on.
- What do you think are the biggest challenges for the telecoms industry?
I think there are some issues which are causing us all a bit of pain just now, like One Touch Switching and legacy infrastructure. But I think there are two challenges which are much stickier and will be around for the foreseeable. They are security of networks and bad actors who use telephone calls in some way, to scam and defraud. Magrathea invests a lot of expertise and time in working on both of these areas.
Magrathea also gets involved in wider industry bodies to share knowledge in these areas, so I see great work being done cross-industry and cross sector, but in my personal view it is too disparate to have a major impact – yet. There is also the growing development of AI; I can see it playing a more significant role in how we experience these challenges but I also hope it can help us combat the risks too.
- And finally, how do you enjoy spending time outside of work?
With our two sons heading off to build their own lives and careers, my husband and I are empty- nesters – well almost – our front door seems to revolve a lot at the moment. But it means we’re starting a new phase and I feel there will soon be new adventures ahead. However, for now I’m making the most of having some time to travel, we recently had a fabulous trip to Sri Lanka. I also love to read, cook and walking the dog to compensate for the cooking.