Celebrating Growth – Laurence Allan
The latest colleague to come under the spotlight here in our Celebrating Growth series is 32-year-old Laurence Allan.
Now our Pricing and Commercial Finance Analyst, Laurence is in his fourth year at Sigma Connected and oversees pricing analytics, analysing budgets, commercial performance and evaluating the success of our ongoing client campaigns.
A Mathematics and Economics graduate, Laurence spent time in his 20’s travelling where he volunteered at an orphanage in Malawi and upon returning to the UK, he worked in a few roles, but not in organisations where he felt he could progress and build a career.
Laurence joined Sigma in 2018 as a customer advisor, assuming it would only be for a short time as he admits he didn’t think it would be the right fit for him. However, this changed when it became clear that his grasp of our CRM system and analysing data was strong and he was asked to provide back-office support on the system he’d become so familiar with through his advisor role.
Only 12 months later, he was seconded into an analyst role within our growing Performance Analyst Team, tasked with helping the new manager at the time look at operational and commercial performance on debt collection for our clients. Impressing at every turn, he was offered a full-time role just 3 months later.
Laurence said: “I’ve been given such an amazing opportunity by Sigma Connected and am fortunate to be doing something I love. I am so grateful for all the support I’ve had from those I have worked with and who have backed me.
“I want to keep learning though, and I am doing a three-year CIMA (Institute of Management Accountant) course which Sigma are sponsoring through an Apprenticeship programme.
What I love about Sigma is the people and the opportunities I have been given which are allowing me to grow and develop personally. For me that goes back to the Sigma values. They aren’t just words on a screen, they are really embedded in the culture of the business and you can see them come to life every day. I even got to experience those values in South Africa when I visited our team in Cape Town It was exactly the same culture and feel.
To sum up, anyone who is looking to join Sigma Connected will get opportunities and a chance to progress in a great working environment. There’s a reason the company has a great reputation and I think the team spirit is the biggest part of that.”