Staff Spotlight: Lisa Ings

Our next staff spotlight episode focuses on Bid Manager, Lisa Ings.

Lisa was born and raised in Tottenham, North London, the birthplace of Adele and Skepta. Despite singing in her primary school choir and performing in a Christmas concert at the Alexandra Palace, she insists the similarities end there.

Lisa then attended Middlesex University where she graduated with a degree in Communication Studies with Sociology. She later went on to achieve qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP).

Lisa began her career working as an administrator for an awarding body looking after the Diploma and NVQ in Careers Guidance. She then moved into marketing and project management and became a Business Manager for a range of employers including NGOs (Non-Government Organisations), outsourced service providers and political lobbyists.

When she is not working Lisa enjoys going to live music gigs and stand-up comedy. She told us “I love music. I have such a wide taste – I’ve seen Nick Cave, Manic Street Preachers, Metallica and Smokey Robinson live, as well as many others”. Lisa told us that she has even been heckled by comedian Micky Flanagan whilst sitting in the front row!

Lisa loves all things Italian. She has travelled all over Italy and is determined to become fluent in the language. During her time in Italy, Lisa climbed two volcanoes, Etna and Vesuvius which were “Simply breath-taking”. Life experiences do not end here for Lisa as she has even enjoyed afternoon tea with the Queen at a Royal Garden Party!

Lisa’s next career venture saw her become Venue Manager for the old Transport House in Smith Square, next to the Houses of Parliament. During her time as manager, Lisa saw Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, celebrities and famous musicians visit. She told us, “Working in Westminster was very interesting, there is fascinating history around every corner”.

After 20 years of working in London, Lisa moved to West Sussex with her partner Barry. In 2017, she decided to take voluntary redundancy from her then role and try something different – Bid Management. Lisa explained, “My previous qualifications and becoming a Prince2 project management practitioner all pointed to good organisational skills and lined me up perfectly to become a Bid Manager”.

Lisa’s first two bid roles were based in the aviation industry, providing business proposals to airports and airlines for a range of services. She then saw a job advert for a Bid Manager at Roffey Park Institute. Lisa said, “I decided I wanted to get back into adult learning and development and build on the sector experience that I gained in my early career. Roffey Park was the right fit”.

Lisa is an avid reader and particularly likes detective and thriller novels. Looking to the future, Lisa said that her ambition is to write a novel within the next 5 years and that she is studying creative writing techniques to help her do so. As well as this, Lisa told us that appearing on a television game show is at the top of her bucket list – good luck!

Lisa is often seen as the professional quiet one always with a smile, but those that work closely with her every day know that she loves to have her old-school tunes on when writing and has a little dance when the deadline is made. Lisa is all about working hard and playing hard and she gets her strength from helping people, clients, colleagues, friends and family. Lisa really does have the warmest heart and she is an integral part of the Roffey Park team.

Categorised in: Company News