CareersCareers
Bruce Poole
Business Development Manager
"I have recently been promoted to Business Development Manager, helping the Head of Sales and Head of Intermodal with winning new business and starting up new daily intermodal services. They’re the giant trains you see crisscrossing the country carry containers full of anything and everything! As part of this role I also help maintain and grow our existing services by talking to our customers so we fill our existing trains, move more stuff and grow our profit. "
Any career advice?
Believe in yourself and always work hard.
School
I did enjoy school, but certainly more for the social and sport side rather than the studying. My favourite subject was definitely P.E, however, I wish I focused more on some other subjects which I’m now really interested in, like History and Food Technology.
Into work
I started working part-time in a 24 hour contact centre when I was 16, whilst also attending college. I soon realised college was not for me, as the course I was completing was not exactly what I expected, therefore I took on more hours and moved to full time work at the age of 17. To cut a long story short, I ended up working for this same company for 11 years, moving around various roles (HR, Training, Office Manager to name a few) and then becoming a Sales Manager for the final 5 years. I learnt a lot during this time, working with lots of different people covering a lot of aspects of a business. I then moved to work for The Times Newspaper as their Corporate Sales Manager for 3 years, using my experience and skills gained in the past to help grow their business. I joined GB Railfreight in June 2021, taking a leap into a whole new industry as Customer Support Manager, and I have not looked back. I managed a team of 8 staff including many apprentices, who manage our day-to-day bookings on containers on our trains, ensuring all customers were looked after and continued to use our services. After a successful year in this role, taking on various responsibilities along the way, I have moved onwards to a new role as Business Development Manager for Intermodal.
Training and qualifications
Throughout my career I have been fortunate enough to participate in various training courses for the differing roles I have worked, such as coaching and training workshops, sales courses etc. Whilst at GBRf I managed a large number of apprentices, so I am lucky enough to work on this programme with my team. I have also been offered the opportunity to further my education whilst working here too which I am currently considering.
Outside of work
Football, football and football… plus spending time with my family, days out and cooking for people!
