Mandy, an operational development manager at Telefónica O2's UK Arlington centre in Leeds, has beaten-off competition from around the country to scoop one of her industry's highest accolades in the UK Call/Contact Centre Awards.

But as a teenager she dropped out of school in the middle of her A-levels.

It was later, while raising her son and working as a station catering manager on the railway, that she began to make up for lost time.

After finding work in adult education as an administrator she says she was inspired by the passion of students of all ages, abilities and backgrounds wanting to learn something new.

Distinction

She had a stint as an event administrator and then joined former railway company GNER as a customer services manager. While at GNER she completed the firm's internal leadership development programmes and a Post Graduate qualification with the University of York and gained a Diploma in Management Studies with a distinction.

She joined O2 two years ago from GNER where she had introduced an award-winning learning and development programme for train drivers.

Mandy's staff described her as "inspirational" when interviewed by judges for her recent award from the Contact Centre Management Association (CCMA).

She won it for her success in introducing a new Advisor Development Programme that supports the working life cycle of O2's contact centre employees with career-long learning and development. With it, she hopes to inspire and reach people with a similar passion for learning.

"The challenge was to make learning more accessible for call centre advisors across four sites by tailoring learning methods to suit their working environment," added Mandy.

"The programme includes on-line learning – split into bite-size sessions which can be carried out at, or away from, the desk – backed up by classroom and coaching sessions.

"The right training benefits our customers because it gives advisors the skills they need to deal with even the most complex queries. But I believe there are personal benefits for advisors too."

"A lot of people don't understand how learning can help you in all areas of life and I'd like to get that message through."