Born 28 January, 1959 in Llandegfan, Anglesey (hence her passion for the sea), Aileen has fond memories of growing up in rural Wales; where she remembers spending many fun filled early years at school – well apart from having to learn Welsh and being on a school bus that had to negotiate a 25% hill climb (really good fun in the snow and ice!). Aileen enjoyed school and working hard during term holidays made her realise that good qualifications were important. She studied hard and was duly rewarded with one of only three scholarships to the local Technical College.

And so on to College, where she studied Business and Commerce for 2 years. Because of her good exam grades Aileen was offered a job in the Careers and Appointments section of the University of Wales, Bangor. An early taste for recruitment based work was duly ignited. Aileen’s responsibilities included sourcing jobs for newly qualified graduates and post graduates, speaking to blue chip companies, attending job fairs, then having to type all vacancies on a golf ball typewriter (tippex was king then) and then distributing to all the students. She distinctly remembers that this is where her passion for recruitment started as she truly loved the reward of helping others and constantly meeting new people.

Aileen married her husband Geoff in 1977 and moved to Cheshire, where they managed a Newsagents shop. Interestingly, Tim Maunder (Terry Maunder’s son) worked as their ‘paper boy’ and little did Aileen know that years later her path would cross again with the Maunders. After three years of 6am starts and twelve hour working days in the Newsagents, Aileen decided that enough was enough and entered the world of ‘temping’. Amongst the many companies she worked for were Vauxhalls and McAlpines in Ellesmere Port, where she worked in the Contracting Department for the Middle East contractors. This gave her a really good insight into understanding various skills and trades, such as Fitters, Electricians, Welders and Pipefitters. The work was interesting and informative and it certainly developed her skills and knowledge for a career with Kinetic later in life.

If Aileen thought that running the Newsagent was hard work, it was nothing compared to the next chapter of her life – namely motherhood! She took what turned out to be a 6 year break from her career when her first child Daniel was born in 1981, followed three years later by Alison. Aileen feels that bringing her children up was the most rewarding time ever and she enjoyed every moment of being a Mum. As Aileen’s offspring grew, the need for something else in her life to fill the school hours, apart from house work, became apparent.

Following her desire to return to work, Aileen’s introduction to Kinetic’s Deeside branch was instigated by a lady named Anne Usher (the elder and more long standing members of Kinetic’s staff will know the name) and after only a ten minute interview she was offered the job. Subsequently, Aileen joined Kinetic on 14th February 1989 as a part time Administrator, to fit in with school run commitments. Her first job was typing the Manager’s name onto business cards on a manual typewriter, which was poised on a picnic table as the office was waiting for their telephones to be installed. In fact, as the office was an entirely new outfit, Aileen’s role was indeed varied.

She certainly hit the ground running during this exciting and busy time; there were orders to fill and adverts to place. Ironically, Aileen vividly remembers being a victim of her own inventiveness, in that by putting the number of the telephone kiosk (which was based outside the office) on the adverts, every time that somebody rang in response, she had to run down to answer the phone; Aileen admits she’s never been so fit! Her first client request was for two workers in a local company. The rest is history as they say and the Deeside branch grew rapidly from there on in. Being there from the start allowed Aileen to enjoy many milestones throughout her career with Kinetic, including the management of their biggest account; a contract to supply 100+ candidates. Although that particular client moved its production to Europe, to this day, Aileen still deals with them on another site.

Upon reflection, Aileen feels that what’s really great about a start-up office is that each week brought new highs; more good workers registering, more sales, record profits, more clients - it really was a steep and exciting learning curve, especially when big name companies start buying! Being an integral member of the Deeside team, Aileen has played a vital role in building a solid reputation for the branch, which over the years has seen many new businesses in the local areas approach Kinetic for assistance. Aileen’s long hours of hard, yet rewarding work both in the early years and today has attributed to the branch’s continuous success.

Aileen thoroughly enjoys Kinetic’s culture and she has had the pleasure of working with some fascinating people over the last 20 years, including Terry Maunder, the company’s Chairman. Incidentally, when Deeside first opened Terry was based there as well and would walk in at any time to find out what was happening and dispense nuggets of business wisdom! As is the case with Recruitment, Consultants and Managers came and went, but Aileen has made some good and lasting friendships via Kinetic.

She often looks back fondly on the many laughs, successes and downright bizarre happenings that went on in the early days. Of course there wasn’t a 24 hour office in those days, so Aileen was often woken up at ungodly hours by clients saying that workers hadn’t turned up. She remembers being sat on the hall floor (no comfort of mobile phones then!) phoning standby candidates until all hours, hoping and praying that somebody soon would say “yes” and allow her to crawl back to bed for another hour of much needed sleep! Such commitment allowed Aileen to hold various positions with Kinetic, such as Operations Co-ordinator for Wrexham and Deeside. But the buzz of actually recruiting is her real enjoyment. As the branch grew in leaps and bounds, bigger premises were soon needed, as 3 rooms over a bank weren’t big enough for all the Consultants required to satisfy an ever-growing number of clients. Hence an office move occurred, but only as far as 50 yards and across the road to a converted Welsh chapel, where the Deeside branch is still based today.

Amongst developing her own successful career and indeed developing Kinetic’s Deeside branch, Aileen watched her children grow up and thus move on. On to Australia as her son did in fact! Whilst she misses him, she does admit that it has its perks; it’s a great excuse to explore Australia after all! Having recently visited Melbourne, Aileen and her husband have tasted the good life and intend to visit as often as possible. Her son plays the bass guitar and keyboard in a band called Sweetmac. Aileen often jokes that she doesn’t know where her son or daughter (who sings rather well) got their musical ability from, as both she and her husband are tone deaf.

Away from the hive of activity at the Deeside branch, Aileen’s claim to fame is eating at Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saions in the days when Raymond Blanc actually did the cooking! She also enjoys socialising with family and friends. Her second biggest love is spending most weekends on Anglesey, where contrary to rumour it doesn’t always rain there. Aileen thinks that it truly is a lovely place and although it used to be her home, it is certainly now her ‘spiritual home’ as well. Owing to the fabulous views, good pubs, great walks, fresh air, lovely bays and beaches to take the breath away, she is sure that she we will retire there and enjoy the island for many years to come!