The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire September 2014 Edition | Page 9

APPOINTED

THAMESDOWN APPOINTS
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Sales Expert Joins Growing
Wiltshire Business

Thamesdown Transport has appointed
Gordon Frost as operations director.
Gordon Frost joins Thamesdown from
Arriva Midlands, where he was most
recently business development manager.
This is not, however, the first time that
Gordon has been in charge of buses in
Swindon. In the late 1990s he was District
Manager for Stagecoach Swindon, running
the out of town services, before leaving to
join other bus operators in different parts
of the country.
Gordon said: “Swindon has changed
dramatically since I last worked here and
the opportunities that a growing town
offers are great. I’m looking forward
to getting to know the town well again
after almost 15 years away. Buses are an
important part of the local community and
I believe you can only understand what
the needs of the area are by being part of
community.
“I was attracted to Thamesdown as
being a relatively small bus operator they
offer the opportunity to get to know the
business intimately. I’m looking forward
to building on what has already been
done – winning the title of Bus Operator of
the Year in 2011 was a hugely significant

Sales Coaching Solutions based in Chippenham
is going for growth with the appointment of the
company’s first employee.

achievement – and engaging with our
customers and local groups to implement
continual further improvements.”
Gordon will also be spearheading the
company’s continued goal of incorporating
customer-focused technology with the
business, including rolling out the on-board
wifi to more buses and launching a mobilefriendly version of the website.

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Louise Elliot, known as Lou was headhunted
by founder and managing director of Sales
Coaching Solutions, Alison Edgar.
Sales Coaching Solutions focuses on
sales and customer service training for
start-up enterprises, SMEs and corporate
organisations.
The recruitment process was easy
for Alison, as she knows all about Lou’s
background in sales and customer service as
Lou used to be Alison’s boss. They met more
than 16 years ago when Lou recruited Alison
to her successful sales team at Yell.
It was Lou who was responsible for
passing on the skills, which later allowed
Alison to become the founder of Sales
Coaching Solutions Ltd.
Alison said: “I cannot express how
delighted I am to be bringing Lou into the
business. Together we’ll make a great team.
We can offer customers a huge wealth of
experience in sales training.”
Lou’s passion for sales and good customer
service started over 30 years ago when

she joined Yellow Pages. During her time
with the company, she became successful
in people management, sales training and
coaching. She’s also worked with blue chip
companies including Marks & Spencer,
Global Radio and Celador Entertainments.
Lou lives in Chipping Sodbury and has
two grown up children. When not spending
with family and friends, she’s is a mentor
for breast cancer sufferers and raised over
£30,000 for charity. Lou commented: “I’m
thrilled to be working with Alison again and
I’m really looking forward to working with
business owners and employees across the
county and beyond.”

From left to right: Alison Edger and Lou Hunt

Hat-Trick Of New Faces For
Expanding Accountants
Three new recruits have joined the ranks of growing
Swindon accountancy firm Banks BHG, created from a
merger between two long-established practices.
Banks BHG have recruited three new
members to the team following the merger
of the two long-established practices Banks
and BHG at the end of June. This now
making the team more than 30-strong.
Kathryn Milward joins as a graduate
trainee accountant and has relocated from
her home town of Carmathen. Kathryn said:
“ The position at Banks BHG is perfect for
me, because I didn’t want to go into one of
the really big accountancy practices.” Kathryn
will now embark on her Association of
Chartered Certified Accountants training to
become a chartered accountant.
David Mason joins Banks BHG as a
bookkeeper. He was previously with
Jacquie Cook, based in Blunsdon, whose
bookkeeping practice was acquired by
Banks BHG. David has recently undertaken
his Association of Accounting Technicians
training.
Nicki Goddard has joined Banks BHG’s
payroll team, which offers an outsourced
payroll service. The department is growing in
response to auto-enrolment legislation.

Having worked in payroll for some 20
years within corporates and most recently
with an accountancy practice, Nicki was
attracted to Banks BHG because of the
dynamism of the company. “With the
merger, the businesses is clearly growing
and it appealed to me to be part of that,”
she said. “Auto-enrolment is a big challenge
for employers, and many will be seeking to
outsource their payroll as a result, which will
see our workload increase.”
Director Richard Mathews said: “We are
delighted to welcome Kathryn, David and
Nicki. They are a great asset to t