With over 10 years in the industry working with brands such as Tesco and brand Virgin Media, we’re lucky to have the wonderful Lauren Thacker on our team.
The lovely Lauren (aka LT) has been with us for over 3 years, and progressed rapidly through the ranks. This year she has been keeping busy, in other ways and has just returned from maternity leave to a further promotion as our new Client Services Director.
We’re pleased to welcome LT back to the team and find out more about her year and plans for 2024!
Q/ Congrats LT! Can you tell us a little more about your new addition to your family?
Thank you! Absolutely – he actually turned 1 a few weeks ago so it’s been a sharp reminder of how quickly the time has flown. He’s toddling around now and babbling lots so it’s a really fun age. He thinks he’s the boss of our house (which he probably is…).
Q/ How have you found adjusting to being back to work?
It was a bit of a shock to the system but equally really great to be back at work and using my adult brain again! I’ve been really lucky that Cravens are so flexible with hybrid working, and there is a real sense of trust in our team that we will ‘get the job done’ so it’s been really smooth! I tend to go into the office twice a week which is great fun with all the team around and then work from home the rest of the week so I can be near to the nursery. The Cravens family has been incredibly supportive so I’m very grateful really. It’s been an adjustment but it’s been great to be back
Q/ With Christmas around the corner, school plays are a key component of the festive season. Your little one may be too young to be centre stage at the moment but what does the Cravens value ‘don’t miss the school play’ mean?
It’s a brilliant metaphor for getting the balance right between work and personal life. We’ve all got “stuff” outside of the workplace, so whether you’ve got kids or not, just don’t miss out on what’s important in life! At Cravens, we all try to live by that philosophy and we’re pretty good at leaning in to help each other out so that we can all enjoy and prioritise these moments.
Q/ Have you noticed any changes at Cravens since your return?
Oh massively. We’re still growing. We’ve hired new people in all departments and have new clients in the agency which is very exciting. Plus our existing clients are ever-evolving so it feels fresh coming back into it after a year away. We’ve also developed additional employee benefits so as well as the great existing perks (such as the personal development allowance) we now have new initiatives like the Employee Assistance Programme. This offers well-being support and provides the team access to loads of advice and guidance from counselling sessions and online CBT, to legal and medical information. So it’s very exciting to be a part of the big changes we’re going through as an agency.
Q/ One of the biggest changes will be your new role as Client Services Director. What does that involve?
Lots of (hopefully) positive developments! My new role has sort of two parts to it. Firstly to really try and represent the best interests of our clients and to lead the team to provide the very highest level of client services. We want to ensure we as an agency are always doing everything in our power to make our services, and how we operate as a team, as good as they can possibly be. We’re very focused on streamlining processes, optimisation and alignment throughout the whole agency this year.
Secondly to nurture and manage the account management department in their personal and professional growth and development – making sure everyone is thriving, happy and achieving their goals!
Q/ And what are your plans for 2024?
Loads of fun things on my agenda for 2024! I’ll of course be focusing on account management staff development, with a big focus on CPD (continuous professional development), courses and training. At Cravens we are longstanding members of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), who are brilliant, and we use lots of their courses, webinars and conferences for our learning and development. I’ve recently been made the IPA City Head for the North East which is super exciting! As one of the UK’s longest-established independent agencies, we’ve also got a big birthday to celebrate this year… Cravens’ 75th Birthday!
