Team member focus: Vivienne Wallace

Q&A with Operations Assistant, Vivienne Wallace

At Eagle Couriers, we are extremely lucky to have an enthusiastic, hardworking team contributing directly to the growth and success of our courier services in Scotland.

This week, we have caught up with Vivienne Wallace, Operations Assistant based at our Bathgate headquarters.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I grew up in the small town of Whitburn and I currently reside in Livingston, which is nice and close to work.

I completed training in Professional Cookery at the West Lothian College and although I’ve changed my career path since then I still enjoy creating nice meals every so often. My favourite thing to cook defiantly has to be a steak – it’s not difficult to do but you can’t beat it.

However, after I achieved my academic qualification and the pandemic hit, I decided to stir up the pot and pursue a career in the transport industry.

What attracted you to begin a career at Eagle Couriers?

After leaving college, I traded in the kitchen for an office at DHL. One year later, I started scouting out what my passion was within the sector which is when I saw the advert for a position with Eagle Couriers. I had heard positive things about the company from others and the reviews showed that it was a good place to work, which gave me the confidence to apply.

Changing career was a really big risk for me. I had no previous skills in the logistics industry but Eagle Couriers took a chance on me and they have been great. They have trained me up providing me with new skills while enhancing the ones I already had.

What duties do you have to undertake as part of the Operations team?

There is a variety of tasks that I undertake as part of my role as Operations Assistant. My main duty is taking customer bookings and enquiries via email and telephone, but I also tackle lots of different tasks and types of distributions.

What gave you the confidence to make the leap from future Chef to Operations Assistant?

I am definitely a people person – I love to chat and interact with people and that definitely gave me the drive to embark on a different path. I get to speak to at least 50 different customers each day and on busy days that number sometimes can reach about 100.

It’s also lovely that the customers are all so different, bringing a variety of stories and experiences, making no two days the same.

What would you say is the most important part of your job role and what are the biggest challenges?

It is hard to say what is the most important part of my role is as all customer interactions are regarded so highly. However, I would have to say customer pricing.

Trying to ensure all work is completed by the end of the day is the biggest challenge by far. Eight hours just doesn’t seem like enough time in the day to help everyone, but we always manage.

Can you tell us a funny, unique or peculiar story during your time with Eagle Couriers?

Believe it or not, there are many funny stories that come out of my office all the time.

One of the best so far, would have to be when a customer wanted to make a booking to transport a flock of pigeons across Scotland. I was definitely surprised, as this wasn’t the first time, we were asked to move a pigeon!

In the end, after explaining the long list of reason why it isn’t safe to carry out such an action and it would be very risky for the birds, the customer decided to side with our advice and not take the risk.

Although, I really did believe for a second, that I was going to have to figure out a way to make this peculiar booking possible.

Do Eagle have good opportunities for staff to be promoted up with the organisation?

Absolutely! Hard work is always recognized and rewarded.

If you are keen to learn and take on anything given to you then you will certainly go a long way. With better knowledge and understanding comes more responsibilities. I first started doing only a customer service role however now I have other responsibilities in the office, such as our pre invoice administration.

Do you have any hints or tips for anyone who would want to be part of the team? 

The key is being a good team player. Our staff members are extremely friendly and welcoming. Everyone here is dedicated, supportive and has an enthusiastic attitude and we all get on like a house on fire

There is always someone who would be happy to help and there will never be a question too silly to ask.

Looking for courier services in Scotland?

We pride ourselves on the courier services in Scotland we give to our customers, and are pleased to have NHS, Scottish Government and Scottish Police Authority amongst our customers.

Simply give us a call on 0845 123 1230 or submit your enquiry through the link below:

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