Mike Williams

So why cake?

The honest answer is…

Firstly, I thought they would get your attention. And secondly, if I bribed you with a delicious cake, to enjoy with your mid-morning tea… reading about me for a couple of minutes might be a bit more interesting.

I am also hoping that on some level, you will now associate my application with the positive feeling of eating cake!

Granted, it’s not a 100% fool proof idea, but
hopefully it’s got you to read this.

So, if I can take your attention away from the cake and on to me for one moment… I’d like to take the opportunity to tell you a bit about me as a person… My CV and endorsement from the Waitrose Marketing Director will tell you everything you need to know about my career, along with my working style and acumen. The rest of this blog should cover the best of the rest;

Just over a year ago I swapped ‘Rawlplugs’ for ‘recipes’ as I left the nation’s favourite DIY store; B&Q, for the award winning supermarket; Waitrose. I spent 7 years with B&Q and was lucky enough to work on Point of Sale, Publications, Sponsorship, Content and Advertising. I moved to Waitrose to broaden my understanding of the retail market, and so far it’s been amazing. I have managed to quickly build some effective networks across the business and made some real differences to the partnership. My most significant would be introducing the supplier funded advertising process to the business, delivering a significant increase in our press share of voice in the last year.

I am a highly motivated individual at work, but this also follows me into my (so called) down time.  In just under 4 weeks I am set to run the Paris marathon. Whatever, task I put my mind to, I want to be the best I can be. Therefore the training is gruelling… and taking over my life. However, it’s not without its benefits as I am raising lots of money for Alzheimer’s research UK, so at least my pain will be worth it. Plus I can pretty much eat as much as I like at the moment – which is great when you work for Waitrose!

The loves of my life are my wife Gemma and our pet rabbit Marlo (pictured below for the aaaaaah factor!) I play and watch a lot of football and have recently become addicted to surfing – although I am still pretty rubbish at the latter. I like to think of myself as a great chef… but working at Waitrose has helped me realise that there is still a lot of headroom for me! Other hobbies include catching the latest films and watching box sets (it’s a cheap past time which is a result of saving for a house deposit)

I was genuinely flattered to be asked to apply. This kind of opportunity is so rare that I really want to make the most of it… I hope that you feel that I would make a great candidate. To reassure you, if chosen I will make sure I give it my all and get the absolute most out of the opportunity. I will bring to the scholarship a positive, proactive and passionate approach.

I see myself having a very successful career in marketing and believe this scholarship will help me on my way to become the best that I can be.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch

Thank you kindly,

Mike