Nicola
Video transcript
My name’s Nicola Wright, I’m a finance analyst in the Fixed Assets Department of Partnership services. I joined the Partnership in September 2007 straight from university, after spending the summer looking for jobs in the retail sector. John Lewis stood out for me just because of all the opportunities that it seemed to provide on its website.
I actually joined the buying offices and then later joined a graduate scheme which was introduced six months into my first year at the company. The Partnership Services division is a brand new division, we’ve had to work together over the last six months to make sure that it’s been a success and delivering everything that the Partnership needs it to.
As a graduate we’re expected to move around the divisions each year for three years. The department that I’ve just gone into is a very technical area so the most difficult thing has been getting up to speed with what’s needed of me and the best way in which to perform my role.
I’m very lucky in that the team that I’m in have all been very helpful and understanding that I don’t know as much as they did to start with. They’ve helped me to become an equal of them over the last year.
Individuals within the Partnership are encouraged to develop themselves in order that they may flourish within the company. As a graduate we are lucky enough to be able to move around to the different divisions and experience all the different roles within finance. So that on completion of our scheme we are able to progress ourselves within the company.
I think the best part of my job is that I get to talk to a lot of people around the business. You get to forge quite a few relationships with all the different teams that we work with. I work in a very friendly team and we’ve all worked together over the last year to make sure that the service that we’re providing is the best. It’s a nice sense of achievement at the end of day to know what we've done, what we’ve achieved and how it affects all those different Partners that we've worked together with.
Working in Finance within the Partnership allows you to experience the different finance functions which Waitrose offers in comparison to John Lewis – or working in a corporate head office which offers different challenges to the commercial decisions which you’ll need to take.
Working for John Lewis enables you to become a Partner within the team, it offers you the opportunity to be a co owner of that company and that’s an experience that you’re not going to get in many other businesses.
