Meet Portable Offices’ Sandycroft Depot Manager – Jemma Wilson

For a woman who set out to study law, Jemma now finds herself in a very different situation – sometimes on-site working with ground workers or trades to overcome contract challenges or in the office pricing jobs with the sales team.

Jemma loves the variety and admits that the turning point for her 10-year-long service with Portable Offices came as something of an epiphany when she first visited a modular installation at the Derby office.

Jemma explains: “I was working as an Operations Assistant at Derby office and visited the site of one of our contracts which had suffered from a few delays as a result of site access challenges. There was a massive 120-tonne crane lifting our modular building into place and everything I had worked on leading up to that moment, suddenly slotted into place. I knew from that point on that I was hooked on portable buildings!”

Jemma grew up in North Wales but moved to Derby when her husband relocated there for work. She secured an Operations Assistant’s role at Portable Offices with no knowledge of cabins or portable buildings. Her attention to detail, strong communication skills and commitment to ‘seeing the job through to the end,’ soon put her at the cornerstone of the small three-man team that made up Derby depot at the time.

When she returned from maternity leave, she joined the newly established Special Projects team and enjoyed a more challenging role trouble-shooting the larger contracts.

Shortly afterwards, her husband was able to move his job back to North Wales and Jemma returned to her roots and took up the role of H&S Co-ordinator at Sandycroft office, just a few miles from her hometown of Prestatyn.

In 2018, she applied for and was awarded the title of Depot Manager along with all the responsibilities that role holds.

“I was overwhelmed when I heard that I was to be appointed manager and was really delighted with the support provided by the directors, especially Adrian who put so much faith in me.

“It is a varied and challenging role and no two days are the same. There is a great deal of emphasis on strategic planning to ensure that sales, office and yard teams are cohesive. Add to that the importance of materials, transport and logistics and the pressure can be intense.

“I am proud to say that I have become ‘a cabin anorak’ and am totally engaged with the industry.”

Jemma was one of the first female depot managers and admits that the industry is still male-dominated but it does not faze her in the slightest and she continues to focus on putting every effort into making Sandycroft perform at its highest possible level.

Away from work, with two boys aged five and six, she spends a great deal of time running them around and enjoying the stunning landscape close to home. She said:

“We are lucky to have the mountains of Snowdonia on our doorstep along with stunning beaches and rivers. We go camping and exploring and enjoy our time outdoors.”

Jemma is also a keen player of rounders and competes in local matches.

Whether at home or at work, her eye is on the main prize – being the best she or the company can be!