Latest News.

Karen climbs the property ladder.

20/03/07

Back in 1999, Karen James joined Derwent Living as a part-time cleaner. But she wasn't mopping floors for long. Today, she is the company's commercial sales manager. Karen has gained knowledge of the various types of Derwent Living property along the way, from retirement schemes and social housing to student accommodation.

But she wasn't mopping floors for long. Today she is the company's commercial sales manager. Karen has really risen through the ranks of housing - and has gained knowledge of the various types of Derwent Living property along the way, from retirement schemes and social housing to student accommodation.

Karen, who now manages a sales team for Derwent Living's Easy Living shared ownership brand, says that she loves her job - and has enjoyed all the jobs she has done for the company.

She took the cleaning job because she could fit it round caring for her two young children. But a year later she took a part-time job in Derwent Living's allocations team. There, she helped assign customers into 'affordable housing' schemes. Four years later, she moved on to the community development team for a year.

She was a student representative at schemes like Brookside in Derby for a year before she was taken on to oversee the commercial sales for Easy Living. Karen said: "Derwent Living has given me a lot of personal development and training, has encouraged me to move up and has given me support all along. I have learned an incredible amount. Everything I have learned in the various teams along the way has stood me in good stead. By working throughout the organisation, you realise how you impact on other teams."

Karen, who previously worked in retail, said that starting out as a cleaner helped her learn about Derwent Living from the grass-roots level. She added: "I took the job, but knew that I wanted to get back on the career ladder at some time. When I got the commercial sales manager job, I was thrilled."

Zoe Atkinson, Derwent's head of personnel, said: "A career in housing is exciting and very rewarding but often people don't know it exists. Like Karen, they fall into it by accident and discover the fantastic development opportunities when they get here. We've got many examples of people like Karen at Derwent Living and we're always on the look out for more people like her."

click here to return to news

| About RSS News Feeds

Keep updated with all the news and events in the housing sector, if you are unsure how to use our news reader please read the instructions.