A five minute chat with… Julie Taylor

Julie Taylor, tells us about her role as Business Development Manager in the Channel Islands

This is the first in a series of five-minute chats with some of the people who work for Q3 and make it tick. Getting the ball rolling, is Julie Taylor from Q3 in the Channel Islands:

“Hi, I’m Julie Taylor and I’m the Business Development Manager for Q3 in the Channel Islands. I was born in the Channel Islands and have had the privilege of living here in Guernsey all my life.

“I have worked in the Facilities Management Industry for 18 years, originally in operations as an assistant to the contracts manager working my way up to Channel Island Operations Manager as part of OCS. I had just moved into sales in 2017 when Q3 acquired the business and since then, I haven’t looked back.

“I honestly feel I’ve got the best job in the world. Don’t get me wrong, not every day is a dream! Problems and challenges pop up because that’s the nature of our business, but it’s the people I work with who are superb and I include both the clients and the Q3 team in that.

“I suppose the one thing that UK people might not appreciate, is just how different the cleaning business in general is in the Channel Islands. It’s another world! Jersey has a population of around 108,000 and Guernsey 63,000, so both are tight-knit communities where personal relationships underpin virtually all aspects of business. We’re all on first name terms and hardly a day goes by when I don’t meet a client walking down the street or in the shop. I actually held one impromptu meeting with a customer in the sauna at the leisure centre!

“People might not also appreciate that Jersey and Guernsey are also two separate jurisdictions, so although they are only 25 miles apart, they are fiercely independent. They have very different ways of working and there is a healthy, competitive rivalry, camaraderie, and banter between the two Q3 teams.

“The last two years have seen both Brexit and the Pandemic challenge us like never before, I am so proud of our wonderful staff who went above and beyond during these difficult times making sure we were there for our community, our existing clients and being able to assist some new friends we have made along the way, some of whom have now become Q3 clients.

“Outside work, I have the beautiful island of Guernsey in which to enjoy my leisure time. Ironically, despite living on an island with over 30 great beaches, I always suffered from a phobia of open water. So, in my 50th year, I decided to confront the fear and started having swimming lessons, and it worked! I am now a member of the Guernsey Masters Swimming Club and have reached a level where I regularly swim 2 – 2.5k a session and have competed in open water swimming events. The most exotic of these took me to Lake Bled in Slovenia.

“It’s great to be working for such a fantastic team in a great place and I am looking forward to many more years with Q3…the only place to be.”