Here at Grosvenor House, we believe it’s important that our clients and prospects know about the brilliant team who make Grosvenor House the successful business that it is. That’s why we’ve put together a Q&A series – aiming to bring the personality and lives of the Grosvenor House team to life!
Last time, we looked at Hannah Campbell – Director of Business Centre, learning about her Cavapoochon, Dougie, and a brief history of how Grosvenor House began! This time, we’ve turned our attention to Front of House Receptionist, Ellie Byrne. Having worked at Grosvenor House since January 2021, Ellie supports Hannah managing their 400+ virtual clients as well as providing some of the most integral services Grosvenor House offers!
How Ellie came to work at Grosvenor
Before gracing the walls of Grosvenor House, Ellie worked as a manager at a conference centre at Beckett’s Farm for 9 years. Much like many other events companies, the pandemic affected Ellie’s job security – meaning it was time for her to take on a new role.
With connections to a mutual contact, Ellie received confirmation from Hannah that there was a position available for her as a Front of House Receptionist!
Starting her role on the first day of Lockdown 3 was an interesting way to start a new job – but one that allowed Ellie to fully get to grips with the nature of the position, and train up to a high quality before ‘business as usual’ commenced later in the year.
Now one of the main issues Ellie faces is being able to recognise faces without the masks! “I’ve got used to only seeing their eyes – and then suddenly, I realise he’s always had a moustache!”
Day to day life
Working as a Front of House Receptionist provides Ellie with the opportunity to exercise her people skills – meeting a variety of different people from multiple industries – meaning there’s always unique and interesting conversations to be had!
Call handling
Ellie explains about how Grosvenor’s efficient call handling services helps a variety of clients:
“Any phone call we receive, we answer on behalf of numerous different companies and then divert it to the correct business. We take a brief description of the call from each our clients, and then when people call up, we automatically know off by heart the right person to divert the call to.”
Post handling
Another part of Ellie’s role is to ensure that all the post is placed in the correct postal slots in the panels behind reception.
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have some businesses that request mail forwarding – so we wrap up the post and put on their alternative address, first class.
“We also have the option of scanning their post over email – which allows them to receive their post in real-time, meaning they never miss a letter or have to wait a few days for the postal service to deliver it.”
Favourite aspects of the job
When asked what her favourite part of the role is, she replied:
“Meeting all the different people. I’m a real ‘people person’ – so working in this role is great. I get to speak to such an alternative mix of people that come in, and a real mix of conversations that come with that.
“I was worried about never getting to know and remember the clients names, faces and companies, but that period in Lockdown 3 really helped as a learning experience to understand everything about the role – so now I can just enjoy it!”
Ellie also commented on the location of Grosvenor, being placed in Birmingham’s prestigious Jewellery Quarter district:
“The location is fantastic. St Paul’s House is a really nice place to go for food and drinks, and you always have the option of shopping in Birmingham after work – which is really convenient!”
And, of course, Grosvenor also has its own watering hole for drinks, Bar 11. Ellie commented:
“Bar 11 is great – every Friday at 4:30, we all head down to the bar to have some end-of-the-week drinks. We also encourage any tenants in the building that day to come and join us!”
Outside the wall of Grosvenor House
In her spare time, Ellie enjoys going out for dinner and spending time walking her dog, Stanley – who is a little Jack Russel. “I’m really close to my family – my Mum and Dad are both pretty young, so it’s always really nice to go out with them for food and drinks”.
Speaking about working at Grosvenor House, Ellie commented:
“Grosvenor House is a great place to work. There is great job security, the people are lovely – everybody here knows somebody, so it always feels like a big family.”
Ready to learn more about our virtual office packages? Or perhaps you’re interested in hiring out one of our hot desking facilities in Birmingham? Our friendly team are always on hand to answer your query – get in touch now.