Spend “5 minutes with” our Executive Director Lynn Walters in the December edition of Places & Faces Magazine
What do you like about living in Norfolk/Suffolk
I live in Bury St Edmunds and I’m also fortunate enough to spend a few weeks a year in a shared holiday home in Titchwell, North Norfolk. It’s rented out most of the time, but we go there whenever we can. Bury St Edmunds is a fabulous market town with a great culture. I love being able to pop in, grab a coffee and browse in the wonderful boutique shops. When I’m in Norfolk I spend my time running or walking on the beach, sketching and discovering great restaurants which serve locally sourced food.
How does Pure make a difference to people’s lives?
We have offices in Norwich, Ipswich, Chelmsford and Cambridge and all of our consultants really care about supporting our candidates to find their next career role. We work with people at all stages of their career, whether they are starting out or looking for Executive positions. There’s nothing more satisfying than helping someone to find a job they love and one where they will thrive. There are many people we helped when Pure started 16 years ago that we are still working with now. Their careers have grown alongside our business.
What do you most enjoy about working with people and businesses in our region?
As well as sourcing and placing talented people, our added value initiatives mean we get to work with businesses in many different contexts. This could be partnering with organisations on Best Employers Eastern Region or supporting up-and-coming talent through our career development programmes including the Board Ready Talent Scheme and Women’s Leadership Programme.
We come up with new ideas to support businesses and their people whilst helping organisations in the East to recruit and retain top talent. We’re lucky to be surrounded by a strong, supportive community of forward-thinking businesses that are happy to learn from each other. Local business leaders like what we do and appreciate our aim of contributing to the growth of our region. They trust us and embrace our ideas to help make them happen.
I also love that East Anglia has a great breadth of interesting and innovative businesses. It’s a wonderful place to achieve a good work life balance. You can have a fantastic career and still enjoy the blend of culture and countryside on our doorstep.
How is Pure contributing to the growth of the region?
Our initiatives are all designed to help local businesses to develop and grow, whether it’s building candidate skills or supporting business leaders to manage and lead in a way that gets the most out of their people.
For example, our Women’s Leadership Programme has supported over 80 women in the region to progress their careers while balancing work and home life. At the same time, their organisations have benefitted from improved inclusion strategies.
With Best Employers Eastern Region, the initiative not only supports businesses to develop engaging places to work, it also acts as a catalyst to bring business leaders together at seminars to learn from each other as well as hearing the latest insights on employee engagement.
Tell us something that people don’t know about you
When I was at school I was very musical. I played both the flute and the cello. This Christmas I was given a flute as a present as it is something I’d really like to start playing again.
What is your proudest achievement
My proudest work-based achievement has been the recent launch of our Board Ready Talent Scheme designed to support businesses to develop their succession pipelines. We secured the backing of the world-leading Cranfield Business School from the outset and it has provided a bespoke Executive training programme for the scheme.
Outside of work, my proudest achievement was completing a 10-day trek in Peru with my colleague Caroline Batchelor a few years ago. As well as the endurance element, it meant facing my fears of flying and overcoming my nerves about leaving my children for that length of time. We were both so proud to have raised £8k for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH).
Run us through a typical day for you
My husband Ian and I have two teenage children and we always try to have breakfast as a family. I leave the house between 7.30am and 8am to travel to one of our four offices and no day is ever really the same.
Typically, the morning is spent going through emails, catching up with the team and meeting with partners such as Grant Thornton and Birketts to discuss and plan upcoming initiatives or events. I try to get out at lunch, even if it is just for ten minutes, and aim to eat something healthy, although I do have a sweet tooth!
Afternoons are often spent on the phone or meeting with clients to advise on talent and people solutions. I aim to leave the office by 6.30pm and typically do something active in the evening like practicing yoga or going for a run. I’ll catch up with the family about their days and I usually end up eating far too late. I rarely sit down, but if I am, it will be doing something creative like drawing.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Art is a real passion of mine and I recently completed a print making course at Gainsborough House in Sudbury.
Where do you like to eat and drink?
If it’s a special treat, we love eating at Maison Bleue in Bury St Edmunds. They have an amazing chef, and everyone is really friendly and welcoming. Other favourites close to home include 1921 and Pea Porridge and I always pop into Guats Up when in town for the best coffee! When we are in Norfolk we enjoy visiting Titchwell Manor as we love Eric’s inventive cooking. We also recently tried Socius in Burnham Market. The tapas sharing plates were amazing and there was a real passion and energy from all the team.
Can you sum up Pure in five words?
Forward-thinking, trusted, recruitment specialists, eastern-region.
Can you sum yourself up in five words?
Innovative, creative, exacting (although my team might describe this as demanding), positive and encouraging.