Stacey Lawrence
Human Resources Co-ordinator
“I started with The London Eye in October 2003 as a Host, working to a zero-hour contract within the Hospitality Department. It's a role that offered me a lot of flexibility, which worked well with the fact that I was a student at the time.
“In March 2005 I became Hospitality Co-ordinator, which gave me a valuable insight into the amount of behind-the-scenes planning it takes to ensure everything runs smoothly.
An opportunity to get on
“I became increasingly interested in the more human resource-focused aspects of the job. So in March 2006, when I was offered the opportunity to join the HR department and study towards my CPP, I naturally jumped at it.
“Initially, I joined because I liked the flexibility of being able to fit work in with a busy life, and to work as little or as much as I liked. After I finished studying, I decided to stay with company as I enjoyed the working environment, the people, and also the fact that the work was fast-paced and challenging.
“You tend to imagine the Eye as a lively place to work, always buzzing with guests and always busy. And that's pretty much how it is – only more so! It's a really fun place to work and has a very social environment.
“There is not really a typical day at The London Eye, which is one of the things that make it such an attractive place to work. I've seen it from both an operational and back-of-house point of view, and whatever job I've done, it's always been versatile and challenging, with scope to grow and develop.
People people
“Without a doubt one of the best things about the job is the people. In my time here I've met such a wide range of interesting people – friendly, fun, very sociable but also very hard working – who've all made it such a lively place to work. On another level, the development opportunities are also excellent – and the training programmes here ensure that there's always a number of ways you can progress.
“My own role is quite diverse and variable. Although I'm mainly providing a support function, I'm also involved in delivering recruitment and training programmes, so there's plenty of opportunity for me to develop further.
“There is a real sense of teamwork here; everyone is friendly and works hard. I'd say we have quite nurturing environment – personally, I've had two extremely supportive managers who have enabled me to grow.
“Strictly speaking, I'm no longer in a customer-facing role. But from my time working in Hospitality, I'll always remember last year's Valentines Day as a stand-out success. Generally, it's the busiest day of the year, with all the pressure that implies. Last year, the team really pulled together to ensure that what could have been chaos ran extremely successfully – both operationally and behind-the-scenes.”
