DARLINGTON HAS THE OUTSTANDING VA OF THE YEAR 2010

15th June 2010

A virtual assistant (VA) from Darlington is celebrating a prestigious national award win.

Sara Gill who runs Officebird based in the Imperial Business Centre on Grange Road, was crowned Outstanding VA of the Year at the 2010 National VA Conference and Awards in Birmingham on Saturday.

Judges felt that Sara outshined the 50 other VAs who entered the competition due to her incredible passion and spirit to really go that extra mile to provide a hugely valuable service to not just businesses in Darlington, but also the community. Carmen Macdougall, president of the VA Conference and renowned VA Coach and trainer, said:

“We really felt that Sara has a truly outstanding business and has gone above and beyond to ensure that her clients receive the best service. She is certainly a very credible and professional business woman that I would never hesitate to recommend.”

Sara said: “I’m absolutely amazed to have won and I didn’t think in a million years this would ever happen to me. The judges’ comments were fabulous and I couldn’t stop shaking when I went up to collect the award and nearly cried with joy – I certainly hadn’t prepared a speech!

“Its been a really tough year for me with some very trying personal circumstances, so to win this award has made me realise what I have already achieved and has inspired me to make office bird even more of a success.”

Officebird offers a complete administration service, including providing mailing addresses, meeting rooms and call answering services, all tailored to suit clients’ individual needs. With 80 regular clients, some of which international, and 20-30 ad-hoc clients, it has been steadily growing since it launched in March 2008 and now employs a full-time apprentice, Hannah Burnside. Sara puts this down to the fact the company went through a process of Service Design. Sara explained:

“Many products have product designers, so I used a service designer to help me to develop a service completely tailored to the end user. I believe this makes a real difference to customer satisfaction and is the reason that I get recommended so often.”

Sara, who spent six years in the army and juggles her hectic work schedule around her six year old daughter, was also runner-up for the Best Customer Service Award. Carmen added:

“We are hoping that Sara will be involved in the judging next year when we hold the National VA Conference and Awards 2011.”

For more information about Sara’s award winning company, please go to www.officebird.co.uk or for more information about the National VA Conference and awards, please go to www.vaconference.co.uk or email Carmen@vact.co.uk.

ENDS

Picture reference: Office Bird 3.jpg
Picture caption: Sara Gill – Outstanding VA of the Year

For more information, please contact Charlotte Nichols on 07813579164 or email charlotte@harveyandhugo.com

VAT Change

Have you remember to change the VAT rate on your invoice templates, spreadsheets and accenting software?
The VAT rate reverted to 17.5% on the 1st January this year but have you implemented the change?
Make sure everyone in your company is aware of the increase to ensure quotes etc are made with correct figures.
If you collect deposits make you system can handle the two rates as the 15% rate will apply to any deposits collected before 1st January and the 17.5% rate will apply to the balance.
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