Choc full
01 Apr 2005
One year into her role as PA to the president of the
Chocolate Society, Hannah Carthew has one of the most enviable
positions in the country. Not only does she work with the finest
chocolate in the world but it’s also her job to sample the goods.
The Chocolate Society was formed in 1991 to represent the industry’s
highest quality chocolate, highlighting the difference between gourmet
products and mass-produced confectionery. Hannah is based near
Barnstable in Devon at the home of Alan Porter, the president of the
Chocolate Society. The Society’s headquarters is in Yorkshire but when
Alan moved to Devon several years ago, he needed a PA to manage his
workload. Alan’s converted attic doubles as Hannah’s office although
Hannah often travels to the HQ, the Society’s two shops in London and
the four Valrhona counters it manages in Harrods, Harvey Nichols,
Selfridges and Fortnum and Mason.
08.30 Hannah
arrives early to get a head start on the day. Alan has returned from a
trip to London so they chat about the issues that arose while he was
away. They also deal with a customer’s order for chocolate making
machinery. Hannah then refers to her tasks for the day. “I write a list
at the start of the day or the night before, depending on how busy I
am,” she explains. “I even keep and refer back to them when I need to.
It stops me waking in the middle of the night in a panic!”
9.00am This is when Hannah catches up with her emails and messages,
including press queries about a recent chocolate and beer tasting event
and a book order for chefs.
10.00 Hannah tackles letters
from charities asking for donations. The Society receives up to 20 a
week although it can’t respond positively to all of them because it
doesn’t have the resources. So this year the Society is supporting
children’s charities local to its bases in Yorkshire, Devon and London.
“I respond to all the letters and send vouchers to those we can help,”
says Hannah. “I can’t always send chocolate because some products, such
as the Bonbons, are made with real cream and won’t ‘keep’ until the
charity’s events.”
11.00 Travel planning takes up much of
Hannah’s time, and this morning she is organising a trip to Paris for
herself and the ‘counter girls’, one of whom is Australian. This means
making calls to Eurostar’s immigration department, checking timetables
and booking hotels. The trip is for a day long training course at
Valrhona, one of the world”s leading producers of chocolate. “We manage
four of their counters in the UK so will learn how to present the
chocolate,” says Hannah. “It’ll be a long day, starting at 5.30am and
ending late into the night!”
12.00 The Society is
developing new biscuits so Hannah and Alan discuss the wording for
their labels. They also discuss insurance policies and staffing the
department store counters with the issue of holiday cover a hot topic.
Hannah explains.”I organise the staff rotas for our stores, check that
we have cover and juggle holiday dates and sick leave. It can be a
fiddly job.”
12.45 Hannah takes a call from a customer who
wants nougat enrobed in chocolate. She clarifies various points with
him and gets feedback about the samples he has received.
1.00 “Alan is a fabulous cook and insists that he makes lunch,” says
Hannah. “Today it is home made cock-a-leekie soup followed by coffee
and Scharffenberger mocha chocolate. Delicious!” Hannah samples all of
the chocolate that the Society sells. “Alan believes that knowing how
the chocolate tastes is part of the service that we provide, so I eat
chocolate every day.” As well as being Alan’s PA Hannah also acts as
“housekeeper” in his absence. He shows her the seedlings in his garden
which Hannah has to keep alive while he is in London for the next
fortnight. “This is the most responsible part of the job,” says Hannah.
“Allowing plants to die is a sackable offence!”
2.00 Hannah
also tackles the technical aspects of running an office so is linking a
printer to a different computer so that it can be networked. It takes
several attempts but she finally succeeds. “I love and hate computers.
They are brilliant but they fight back when you least have the time!”
She then orders a Bluetooth adaptor for Alan’s laptop so that he can
download pictures from his phone onto his machine.
2.45 The
Society has done packshots of products for a supermarket so Hannah
approves the pictures. She also chases refrigeration engineers because
a machine in one of the stores is not working properly. The chocolate
has to be kept that the right temperature so a problem with
refrigeration is important. “This is an example of the variety of the
job,” says Hannah. “It makes it a little stressful but the adrenaline
rush is great.”
4.00 The Society’s web site, www.chocolate.co.uk,
has to be updated so Hannah is putting a new product on the shopping
section of the site. Today she is adding the new Chocolate Society
Carre Gift Box which contains 24 pieces of chocolate.”I am always
adding new information, prices and products. We keep it updated because
visitors order products from it”
5.00 Hannah is homeward
bound, giving Alan a lift to the garage where his car has been
serviced. She works hard to ensure that she can leave on time, not
least to spend time with her husband. “Time flies at the Chocolate
Society,” Hannah explains. “There is so much to do that the day really
does seem to pass in minutes. I rarely stop so by 5pm I am ready to sit
still!”
Amongst Hannah’s major responsibilities she takes
calls and keeps track of messages from the press, customers, members of
staff, suppliers and salespeople. For her, though, there’s no such
thing as typical day at the office. Hannah admits that every day is so
varied that she wouldn’t enjoy a job that restricted her chance to use
all her skills. She also wouldn’t enjoy a job that made her feel bored.
“My tasks are on a rolling list,” she says. “Each day is so manic that
I rarely get to the bottom of it.”