Staff Spotlight: Jan Potter
July 13, 2022 1:08 pmOur next staff spotlight episode focuses on Sales Ledger Administrator, Jan Potter.
Jan was born in Hillingdon, West London and spent her childhood there as well as in South Ruislip. After passing her 11+ test, Jan attended Bishopshalt Grammar School in Hillingdon, which now specializes in Music and Performing Arts.
After graduating from grammar school, Jan was sponsored by Grand Metropolitan Cardholders to take a BTEC in Business Studies at Langley College which she passed with distinction. Jan then began studying for the ACCA qualification part-time. Unfortunately, Jan was made redundant and could not afford to continue. However, it was not all bad news as Jan did pass the Financial Accounts and Business Law sections of the qualification, the two sections that she found most interesting.
Jan was extremely active during her childhood, taking ballet and tap lessons up to the age of 8. Jan also belonged to a local Brownie group, achieving a lot of badges before progressing to the girl’s brigade in her early teens. Here Jan undertook several key responsibilities and such a young age and was even a flag bearer on special occasions, and Sundays, at the associated church.
One of Jan’s passions is playing Netball. She began in her junior school and continued playing for her local team up into her late twenties before she moved to Horsham in 1997. She told us, “We went from 5th division to 1st division, winning many games over the years.”
Jan’s career began as a Junior Clerk at Lloyds Bank before becoming a Data Entry assistant for many various companies. After this, Jan joined Piher International as Accounts Manager before moving on to Grand Metropolitan Cardholders as Credit Controller.
It is whilst at Grand Metropolitan Cardholders that Jan had one of her proudest moments. She explained, ‘I enjoyed my role here. Something I am most proud of is when I discovered that some staff members from a restaurant in London were defrauding the company by using their staff discount card to pay for customer bills when the customers paid in cash.’ Jan was instrumental in the guilty party being prosecuted.
Jan then went on to join Sema Group at BP Exploration, Stockley Park as an Assistant to the Site Manager, where she met her partner, Andy, before changing her job role to a Software License Consultant. Here Jan worked with some impressive clients that included BT, British American Tobacco, Ernst Young and National Air Traffic Services.
After this Jan stepped into the world of finance, joining Johnston Controls at Exxon Mobile Leatherhead as Financial Analyst. Jan then decided to find a job closer to home so she could spend more time with her daughter whilst she was growing up and so Roffey Park was the perfect fit. It is here, at Roffey Park Institute, that Jan remains today, a vital part of the Finance and Roffey Park team as Sales Ledger Administrator.
In her free time, Jan enjoys going to the cinema and live music events. Jan told us how amazing it was living in London and growing up being so close to many music venues. She has seen U2, Simply Red, Prince, George Benson who had Stevie Wonder as a special guest, KC and The Sunshine Band, Barry White, Squeeze, Alexander O’Neal and many more. Jan even went to Hammersmith Palais to see one of the final performances of The Jam!
Jan also loves to read. She especially enjoys the Agatha Christie series as well as US and UK crime novels. One of Jan’s favourite pastimes is learning new languages. She told us, ‘I loved learning Spanish and French at school and thoroughly enjoyed testing my skills when I visited both countries. In fact, I worked for a Spanish organization in the 1980s!’
Jan told us her proudest achievements include buying her own 2-bedroomed terraced property in the early 90s and giving birth to her daughter in 2000, whom she has been so proud of. Jan also explained that one of her favourite life experiences to date was when she and three friends went on a fly-drive holiday of a lifetime to the West Coast of America with two convertibles. She said, ‘It was amazing seeing many of the wonders America has to offer. It was very tiring with all the driving however but a holiday I will never forget!’
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