This year has seen dramatic changes to businesses & employment alike & the Covid19 fall out is still being felt.

With unemployment set to peak at 4.9% estimates for August to October 2020 show an estimated 1.69 million people are unemployed in the UK. This is up 411,000 on the same period the previous year & up 241,000 on the quarter. (1)

With the pandemic showing no signs of letting up & businesses across the UK having to make hard decisions going forward, some CEO’s & Senior Leadership Teams may be seeking Executive Support on a contractual basis, or even in an online format.

Many business owners & Senior Leadership/Management roles are also seeking support from Online Business Management solutions, to assist with streamlining & moving their teams forward in a proactive way.

Helena Parrott – Executive VA & Online Business Management specialist formed Virtually Smart Ltd to offer effective & efficient expert support to business owners, CEO’s, Managing Directors & Senior Leadership Teams. Her twenty years’ experience as an Executive Assistant to a variety of Senior Management in engineering, technical consultancies, local government & finance sectors have enabled Helena to hone & develop a vast array of corporate business support skills & strategies.

Helena’s extensive skills have previously included:

• Responsibility for the management of the Managing Directors’ office – all daily activities, diary management across global time zones, supporting the Board with various activities to meet priorities
• Supporting the work of the Board – meetings logistics, servicing monthly meetings & all other events, creating & collating Board papers, creating agenda & arranging speakers, capturing actions & ensuring actions were completed on time
• Planning & arranging global business travel
• Supporting the MD & the leadership team in change planning, business & strategic planning
• Liaising with consultants on a variety of projects including Diversity & Inclusion & Project Management Function Review
• Project Support, including managing, planning, tracking a variety of projects as needed, including reengineering strategy
• Managing high level processing, invoicing & costing of variety of IT functions including $6mil contract for Click to Chat function – allowing customers to chat online with business representatives
• Managing all team purchasing – offering cost saving advice, monthly reconciliation, investigating discrepancies, ensuring all purchases stay within budget
• Liaising with senior management team on relevant issues to ensure strong communication links within the team. Management of team communication, organisational updates, distribution lists & organisation of office facilities, furniture & stationery

However, in her most recent role she has moved her support to a predominantly online format, with occasional onsite support for the Dolphin N2 team located in Shoreham, Sussex.

In our most recent climate this form of support for a team who suddenly find themselves working from home & continuing to develop their ground breaking engine technologies; has proved an invaluable asset to the Dolphin N2 Senior Leadership & the rest of the team.

With the Dolphin N2 team continuing to grow, the challenges of the pandemic expectations have continued to be met by Helena with her adaptive & responsive attitude. Despite these challenges, Helena continues to provide expert, efficient Executive Assistant support in a predominantly online & virtual format in addition to the aforementioned,  Helena also: (this list is by no means exhaustive)

• Offers full EA support to the Dolphin N2 CEO & entire Senior Leadership team including: attending daily SLT Zoom meetings & acting upon any expectations & or needs presented by the SLT team, coordinating with & updating the UK team & international partners, leading meetings, preparing presentations, group diary management, inbox management & any & all support the team need to allow them to continue with their extensive projects & developments
• Being the point of contact for all new starters
• Collating & implementing documentation pertaining to international patents & legalities surrounding patents for the Dolphin N2 CryoPower engine
• Liaising directly with Government agencies with regards to Grants & Funding
• Being instrumental in the support of the entire team as they spun out from Ricardo Plc in December 2019, including setting up new offices, implementing an entirely new IT systems & support for the team, ensuring all contracts were current & up to date
• Ensuring all documentation & legal necessities pertaining to Dolphin N2 becoming an independent entity being in place including all policies & procedures

Helena Parrott Executive VA & Online Business Management Specialist has transformed the functioning systems of many Senior Management & SLT teams & continues to provide effective, efficient, proactive & fully flexible professional & knowledgeable support to the growing team at Dolphin N2.

Written by Katy-Jane for & on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd

1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/december2020#:~:text=the%20estimated%20UK%20unemployment%20rate,higher%20than%20the%20previous%20quarter

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