Kim Barnard, Group Marketing Manager at West Country financial experts Old Mill, has become the firm’s new head of office for Yeovil.
The role of head of office is to encourage collaboration and engagement among the teams and encourage and support Old Mill’s work within the local community.
The 35-year-old’s promotion marks the first time anyone in a professional support team role has taken on such a position; she will look after Old Mill’s Yeovil office alongside her marketing role.
As Group Marketing Manager, Kim is responsible for Old Mill’s marketing strategy so was heavily involved in their recent rebrand; she said her involvement in the project had given her a real head start in taking on the role of Yeovil office head.
“Our new brand is a reflection of Old Mill’s story. It celebrates what makes us different, whilst still representing our core values. Working on the rebrand has given me huge insight and a full understanding of how our values link into our brand philosophy; our purpose, principles and personality and how this embeds into Old Mill and our staff engagement,” said Kim.
Matthew Phillips, Business Development and Marketing Director at Old Mill says “Kim is a natural collaborator and someone who commits fully to everything that she does. She is a great representative of our values and given her key role in the insight behind our recent rebrand I believe she is ideally placed to take on this position.”
Matt said that Kim’s ‘infectious personality’ helped ‘bring out the best in others’ and said that, having worked for Old Mill for 11 years, Kim had developed great relationships both externally with clients and the local community as well as internally.
“I know Kim will bring her energy and passion to the role, engaging with everybody in the Yeovil office as well as being a fantastic ambassador externally.”
Kim said she was really looking forward to getting stuck into the role, encouraging collaboration and engagement amongst the Yeovil teams, and supporting their work within the community. “With over 100 people working in our Yeovil office, our financial experts work at the cutting edge of Accounting and Wealth Management, working across a wide range of sectors, with a wide client portfolio and a diverse mix of individuals – there is going to be plenty to get involved with.”
She added: “We have also recently launched The Old Mill Fund – linked to the Somerset Community foundation – which is the new home for our charitable giving, so I will continue to encourage and support staff to give their time and expertise as volunteers at local charities.
“I am also looking forward to supporting our teams as they engage with the local business community, helping them to identify opportunities to build on our track record of strong growth.”
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