Cheryl Burton (The Missing Piece)

“Your time is a precious commodity and so having built a fantastic customer base whilst gaining a good reputation over the past 12 years working in the Health & Safety space - those who know me best know that I do not waste people's time offering services that would be of little use or value or that I wouldn't use myself.
 

Whilst compiling my portfolio of services, I have looked around the market place, reviewed all the players and chosen carefully the best Health & Safety & HR eLearning system provider in the UK, the top Lone Worker system, the leading provider of occupational health, hygiene and safety leadership services, and a reliable Lightning Protection System testing provider with the personal touch.

So really... I have done all the hard work for you - have a look at the services listed that might help you and your business to improve efficiencies, save money and grow whilst ultimately keeping your business and your people safe.”
 

I own my company called The Missing Piece (Sales) Ltd... a sales consultancy offering business planning & sales strategy development; product/service reseller; sales process reviews; sales team accompaniment; motivational workshops & lead generation services... Agile-It are onw of my customers and are the only company I network for... here's how I got here!

In 1986, I travelled to London at the tender age of 19 to study Radiotherapy at Hammersmith Hospital. After a short illness in 1990, I eventually decided that this wasn't the career for me as I enjoyed helping people deal with having cancer and cope with the treatment and the NHS just didn't allow enough for this and so I went out to find a job to pay the rent whailst I decided what to do... I applied for University to do a Psychology degree and got accepted... woo hoo... but couldn't get a grant so couldn't go.

Science had always been a passion of mine and I started a job as a receptionist at Enviresponse, a public analyst laboratory that carried out chemistry and microbiology on food, water, soil, children's toys testing and asbestos... so this was right up my street. Not too long after joining I was promoted to Office Manager and not long after that (within 18 months) I was given a mobile phone and a car and was sent out to win new contracts as I had already successfully brought in new business just over the phone.

After 7 years I moved to a blue chip organisation which I hated from the moment I got there... if you are not in a position where you are a decision maker it is hell to get a decision made and so I used to fly by the seat of my pants because they took too long to make decisions... needless to say I didn't stay there long - just oover 2 years - long enough to look reasonable on my CV.

It was then that I joined Sypol where over the last 12 years I have helped take the business (Sypol Ltd) from a £1.5M t/o to £4.8M turnover. Joining in 2000 as a Field Sales Consultant (FSC) and new to the HSE arena I quickly built up my key account and customer base majoring in the offshore oil & gas, construction, food & drink and public sectors. As Head of Sales & Marketing I supported, managed & motivated a team of 8 including recruiting and training new team members on an ongoing basis. My role also involved the management of an outsourced telemarketing organisation and a PR company, both whom I sourced using a tender process. I also organise and run a schedule of information and sales seminars across the UK.

After 10 gloriously happy years, we were acquired by a venture capital company and I'm afraid it was downhill all the way from there... so that was my opportunity to put all of my knowledge, learning and experience into practice to run my own company instead and so The Missing piece was born.

Networking is becoming a bit of a passion and although I have a number of customers, Agile-IT is the one that I think will benefit most from this marketing strand.