‘Lucy Edwards, She’s One Of Our Own!’
By Planet Vending Editor, Ian Reynolds-Young
If vending was football, Regency Design fans would now be singing ‘she’s one of our o-o-own; Lucy Edwards, she’s one of our own.’
It’s all well and good when the accomplishments of your business are recognised in sector-specific awards – and Regency has won more Vendies than you can shake a gong at – but it’s something else altogether when one of their own finds herself hailed as the UK’s ‘Brand Activation Business Development Manager of the Year 2023’ as part of the Influential Businesswoman Awards 2023.
‘I got a random e-mail at the beginning of the year to say that someone had nominated me and I thought ‘this has got to be a fluke’, so I e-mailed it to Andy (Andy Dixon, Ed) and I said ‘is it legit?’ and he said ‘you’d better believe it’, so I said ‘shall I accept the nomination?’ and he said, ‘you’d better believe it’ again, and so I said ‘yes please’,’ Lucy said.
‘So this big process began. I had to fill out all of these forms and answer about 50 questions, and some of them were quite personal, such as ‘what kind of challenges have you faced in the industry and how did you overcome them?’, and ‘how long has it taken you to get to where you are now?’ There was even a section in which I was asked what advice I’d give to a woman thinking of a career in our industry.’
All of which got Lucy through to the next round, in which she was required to make a presentation that used the case histories of three Regency Design and Print customers, to demonstrate Lucy’s business modus operandi, namely working with customers to find the best possible solution, and then making it happen. Even if it’s never been done before…
‘But there was more to it than that’, Lucy says. ‘They wanted to know how I’d taken the concept of sustainability and made that attractive to the customer and then on top of all that, I had to include the personal testimonies of each of the customers and a raft of other references.’ And then? Nothing. Nothing, for six months…
There was no fanfare and no TV crew turned up the office; but there was an e-mail and the e-mail informed Lucy that she’d won the award.
Soon, she was the centre of attention, accommodating requests from journalists for interviews, both for the Awards’ host publication and the wider press, and putting up with the good-natured leg-pulling of her colleagues.
In the articles that followed, Lucy comes across as one of those rare people who make things happen on a regular basis. Not only that, her expertise in and knowledge of Regency’s capabilities is self-evident, as is her unabashed enthusiasm for her job. Regency comes across as a highly professional business that’s leading the industry in its approach to the environment in general and recycling in particular. Not to mention Lucy’s story is itself a testament to a business -indeed to a sector – in which talent is nurtured, personal development is encouraged and achievements are celebrated.
In a fitting coda to the story, PV is proud to announce that Lucy has been promoted to the role of Business Development Director with a brief to re-model the company’s structure, so that it is ideally placed to grasp the opportunities presented by emerging marketplaces.
‘It can be incredibly challenging for a woman to make her way in business and I hope this will help to inspire other women to really go for it’ Lucy said. ‘And if I can help or encourage in anyway, that’d be my biggest achievement. If I can do it, so can you!
Andy Dixon summed up in his usual succinct way: ‘we’re all incredibly proud of her’, he said simply.
Share the pride, dear readers, because at the end of the day ‘Lucy Edwards, she’s one of our own.’
*And by the way, Lucy won the award as Miss Roud but now, she’s Mrs. Edwards. So congratulations are in order – again…
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