The new manager of Marks and Spencer in Wrexham marked the return to her Welsh roots with her first trek up Snowdon to help raise £1m for charity.
Despite being in her new role at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre for only five weeks, Katie Jones, originally from Holyhead on Anglesey, has already completed her first charity event.
She hiked up Wales’ highest peak to support her colleague and regional manager Andrew Scanlan who scaled five of Britain’s highest mountains in 48 hours raising £1m for three cancer charities.
Katie, 27, a former pupil of Kingsland Primary School and Holyhead High School, lives in Manchester with her two and a half year old Basset hound called Fudge.
Now back working in the land where she was born, she was happy to get stuck in and support the Snowdon trek. She said: “I can’t believe it but it was the first time I have ever walked up Snowdon and there were four of us from Wrexham who went up.
“The weather was lovely all the way until about five minutes before we reached the summit and then the cloud came in.
“We took the Llanberis path and it took us around four hours to get to the top.”
Katie was recruited by Marks and Spencer when a representative from the company was impressed with her customer service while visiting the Cafe Nero in Wilmslow where she was manager. Before coming to the Eagles Meadow store, she was a commercial manager for Marks and Spencer based in Warrington.
Katie said: “The customer is at the heart of everything that we do at Marks and Spencer and it is great to work for a company which really does believe in that because it just rubs off on everyone who works here.
“What you then find when you visit any Marks and Spencer around the country is happy and friendly staff which I think is so important to the success of the company and something I want to continue to foster.”
Katie said it was also great to work for a company which was so well valued by its customers. She said: “There is such brand loyalty out there for Marks and Spencer and our customers are very vocal. If they see a display they don’t like or something like that then they will tell us because they really do care about the brand and want to see it last for another 120 odd years.
“They are not shy to share their views and opinions of us which is great.”
She is also pleased to be based at Eagles Meadow and said: “I think Eagles Meadow is a really modern and up to date looking centre and it is a great destination for customers with an ample amount of car parking which is always a bonus.”
Kevin Critchley, shopping centre manager, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Katie to the Eagles Meadow team and wish her every success in running the busy store. I feel sure she will be made to feel very much at home here.
“We are very fortunate at Eagles Meadow to have a fantastic range of stores and Marks and Spencer is no exception. It is good to hear that it has been passed into safe hands and will continue to thrive at our busy shopping centre.”
To find out more about Eagles Meadow visit www.eagles-meadow.co.uk
