Last month we were delighted to welcome Hilary to the team on a part time basis. Hilary has a wealth of experience and is helping us to put procedures and policies in place that will help DataConsulting grow and remain a trusted business partner for our customers. Working alongside Craig they have already helped steer through the murky waters of GDPR and is now helping us achieve our ISO 27001 accreditation. We asked Hilary to give us a few words of introduction so here they are.
Where do you come from?
Sheffield, Edinburgh and London so far – it was good enough for the Human League.
You’re the newest member of the DataConsulting team, how do you feel?
Excited and nervous. Everyone has made me feel welcome and the team spirit is obvious. It’s refreshing to be working in a niche company with such talented people, rather than a large corporation.
Outside of work what do you like to get up to?
I work art time, so quite a lot! I’m treasurer for two Friends groups supporting local libraries as a well as a musical theatre group, I also volunteer in costume hire at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. It’s a constant battle to cope with cutbacks so nothing new there then.
Who was your idol growing up?
Definitely my Father. He was a Physicist and academic but also a very practical and self-sufficient sort of guy who’d seen active service and took a considered approach to life generally. If you asked him a question, you always got an impeccably reasoned answer delivered with honesty and kindness – something to live up to.
What’s at the top of your bucket list?
To write that best-selling thriller I always planned and never got around to… Seriously, though, my husband and I would like to sail around the World so long as climate change doesn’t scupper us.
What’s your favourite film and book?
This is difficult but, on balance, Rear Window for great casting, costumes, suspense and claustrophobic atmosphere. Picking a favourite book is even worse. I’m tempted to say Day of the Triffids but I think One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich has to win out because I couldn’t put it down and had to read it in one sitting. You really feel like you’re there, sharing his suffering and the small triumphs that keep him going.
Do you have any unusual facts about yourself which you’d like to share?
I’ve been a Doctor Who fan since the beginning, love working with theatre costumes in my spare time (it’s the perfect antidote to being a Chartered Accountant) and once ate so many liquorice allsorts that I put on half a stone in one week. That’s the (only) downside of a student job at Bassetts!
