As it’s Mother’s Day week, we decided to catch up with Emma Evans our Finance Manager who has been a core member of our team for 18 years!
We got up close and personal with Emma, who has just returned from maternity leave, to get her thoughts on our new hybrid working approach, adapting to life back at work with a little one and finding out what she believes has changed for the better here at EF-group. One thing we know about our Emma is that we always get honest answers!
- You’re back – Yay! How are you managing your new normal?
It’s like I never had the time off (in a good way!). Auto-pilot kicked in and all that knowledge just came flooding back as soon as I stepped through the door! It is great to be back though, seeing all my colleagues again and being able to catch-up and have some normality. I’ve even had a hot brew and drunk it before it’s gone cold! It has been a bit full on but I’m finding my rhythm with the new routine ‘Eat, parent, work, repeat..’.
- Did you have a phased return or just get straight back to it?
I wanted to keep my head 100% in the game in both ‘mum-world’ and ‘work-world’ so I agreed a date and just got straight back into it. It’s great with our new hybrid working model as I’m in the office for two days a week and then work from home the other three, so I’ve got a great balance and have been able to arrange structured childcare. Everyone at EF is so supportive and understands that family is always your priority which definitely helps!
- You’re making it sound easy! Is there anything that’s been a struggle?
Having the time off was amazing, I got to spend so much time with Elijah so it was a struggle to leave his little handsome face, luckily at his age he isn’t too aware that I am going for the day, and it’s fantastic to go back home after a couple of days in the office and watch his big smile and hear him giggle when I walk through the door.
- You’re like part of the furniture, what’s been the biggest change you have seen over the last 18 years?
I certainly have seen a lot! The business still feels like us, our values and family ethos remains the same, but we’ve elevated in scale since being acquired by Foodbuy and have expanded our buying power. We’re taking on more amazing clients and suppliers and now we’ve re-branded and waved goodbye to the colour orange! Our offering and solutions have grown significantly since acquiring Air Publishing Ltd, and I’ve seen a real difference in our platforms with new features and upgrades being released monthly. I know you asked me for one but there’s so many great changes that benefit our clients and suppliers that I can’t pick just one!
- 18 years is a long time! What do you love the most about working at EF-group?
The family feel and being back at work with some of the OG’s, I have made many lifelong friends at EF-group and it’s amazing to watch people you care about smash their goals and move up within the business. It’s great to finally meet some of the new faces that have joined the business too, we’ve expanded a lot since I went off, being on teams and working at home is great but seeing people face to face and getting to know new people has been fun.
- It can’t all be nappies & number crunching so tell us what you do for fun?
It used to be late nights and a lot of rum and cokes, but now it’s soft play and walks in the park, which I wouldn’t change. I can’t wait for our infamous company nights out again and being able to bond outside of work with all the team, it’s great to have some down time together after working so hard all week.
Emma, we salute you, you seem to have the perfect ‘balance’ (get it…. Balance – spreadsheet…never mind!) and we’re so happy that you’re enjoying being back. You seem to have the work/life balance just right and that’s one thing we’re big promoters of here, it sounds like you’re really making office life count whilst still being able to dedicate quality time to Elijah and we’re so pleased we can help you maintain that balance.
