What our clients say about us.....
To read our testimonials for CV Writing, LinkedIn Profiles, Interview Skills, etc, please visit www.CompellingCVs.co.uk
Proofreading of a Comprehensive Village Plan for Submission to Council
The Back Office proof read a document for us at short notice. The document was written by a group of people, so contained a variety of styles. The Back Office did a good job of bringing the various styles together and correcting spelling and grammar. This was all done quickly and at a reasonable price.
Digital Dimensions Ltd, Berkshire
Digital Dimensions Ltd, Berkshire
Article Writing, CopyEditing, Proofreading, Twitter for Business
I've known Barbara from The Back Office since she established the business in 2009. When I launched the Click Berkshire magazine in early 2012, Barbara was an obvious choice to write articles for the magazine. She has just written her 5th article for the magazine which is distributed to around 5000 homes, offices, retailers and community centres in Berkshire. Barbara's articles are always well written, beautifully formatted, print-ready and on time. Barbara has also assisted with other formatting and proofreading assignments and has helped kick start our presence on Twitter. She is knowledgeable, supportive, reliable, easy to do business with and never disappoints.
Harriet Slingo, Click Berkshire - Online Directory and Magazine: www.ClickBerkshire.co.uk
Harriet Slingo, Click Berkshire - Online Directory and Magazine: www.ClickBerkshire.co.uk
Non Fiction Proofreading, CopyEditing and Formatting for Print and e-Publishing
"Barbara at The Back Office did an amazing job with my book
manuscript during 2012/2013. Initially
proofreading and editing the manuscript, she then formatted it both for print
and e-publishing. The latter included style headings, graphics, bookmarks, indexing,
hyperlinks and all the other formatting idiosyncrasies that I previously been
unaware of. Barbara's attention to
detail, her interest in my subject and her endless patience were invaluable to
me in my first publishing venture. I
have also used Barbara's CV writing services (Compelling CVs) for my CV and
LinkedIn profiles where, again, I received fantastic service. I highly recommend The Back Office and would
definitely use their service again."
Melanie Spanswick, Author: "So You Want to Play The Piano?"
Melanie Spanswick, Author: "So You Want to Play The Piano?"
Proofreading and Copy Editing
"The Back Office proofread and edited my novel. Barbara’s work is exact, precise and extremely thorough. She picked up on errors and inconsistencies that others failed to spot. In fact, her memory is such that she seems to remember parts of my novel better than I do! Additionally, she made valid suggestions for improvements along the way. The work was undertaken at an impressive speed, but without compromising quality and accuracy. I would definitely recommend this service to other authors."
S Farndon, Author, The Escape Company
S Farndon, Author, The Escape Company
Proofreading
“Barbara assisted us with a tricky proofreading assignment of a mathematical journal article on inverse design methods for cascades. Barbara's attention to detail and speed meant that we ended up with a text that was error-free and ready for publication. On a personal level, Barbara is most approachable and amenable. She instils great confidence in her abilities thanks to her knowledge and professional approach to business.”
Top qualities: Personable, Good Value, On Time
David Wheatley, Dot Comma Translations, Reading, Berkshire
Top qualities: Personable, Good Value, On Time
David Wheatley, Dot Comma Translations, Reading, Berkshire
HR Documentation, Employee Handbooks
“In February 2011 BIB approached Barbara at The Back Office to undertake a full review of the human resources procedures and documentation for the company, with a view to ensuring that the company was fully compliant in human resources matters. Her company has done an outstanding professional job producing the documentation together with a comprehensive staff handbook containing all the policies that the company needs to remain legally compliant and to support the day-to-day running of the business. Of particular note is that Barbara took the time to tailor the policies for BIB: a key advantage was that she was quick to identify how generic policies could be made relevant to the particular industry in which BIB operates, the media industry. Barbara was able to advise the company quickly and accurately with respect to the issues involved with contracts of employment and job descriptions. Barbara is responsive, knowledgeable, calm and always professional. Her response and delivery times are excellent and the work is always executed to an extremely high standard, without exception. As at September 2011, BIB continues to outsource the majority of its human resources function to the Back Office as the business grows and evolves, and it has no hesitation at all in recommending the services of Back Office.”
Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity
Megan Hoey, September 2011
Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity
Megan Hoey, September 2011
Human Resources and General Business Support
“Barbara has the ability to combine experience with up to date understanding of regulations, policies and procedures. Barbara understands people and is able to help develop businesses and employees with a range of services that are hard to find from one source. I would highly recommend Barbara to businesses."
Peter Morris Partner Pinewood Asset Finance
Peter Morris Partner Pinewood Asset Finance
HR Manager and CV Writing
“I first met Barbara when she was my HR Manager and Office/Facilities Manager at WorkGroup Systems. Following the acquisition of WorkGroup, Barbara created all the HR policies and procedures from scratch; protecting the Company and its employees on a totally impartial basis (unusual in an HR Manager) and used her integrity and initiative to achieve fair and proper outcomes. As Office/Facilities Manager, she was also responsible for the office environment including security, maintenance, IT and general contractors and suppliers. Again, she ran a very tight ship and was extremely effective and resourceful, quickly becoming completely indispensable to the team and staff. Barbara was involved at a very high level in the ultimate sale of WorkGroup to a Nasdaq listed US corporation when she was the main point of contact with the lawyers - singlehandedly compiling all the due diligence documentation relating to the sale.
"In the late 90s I again had the pleasure of working with Barbara, and as ever she played an important consultancy role in a private equity parent and subsidiary companies, acting as a key point of contact and a mediator and troubleshooter. She was highly respected by investors, clients, professional advisors and staff and she was badly missed when she took up new opportunities.
"More recently, through her own company The Back Office, Barbara has completely re-written my CV for entry into a new market sector. She has done a fantastic job and the high quality of my CV has been commented on by recruiters – one of whom was kind enough to comment that it was the best CV received out of sixty initial candidates.
"Always available for advice or as a sounding board, Barbara is an extremely effective operator who consistently delivers to a high standard.”
Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Creative
J Vahey, Sep 2011
"In the late 90s I again had the pleasure of working with Barbara, and as ever she played an important consultancy role in a private equity parent and subsidiary companies, acting as a key point of contact and a mediator and troubleshooter. She was highly respected by investors, clients, professional advisors and staff and she was badly missed when she took up new opportunities.
"More recently, through her own company The Back Office, Barbara has completely re-written my CV for entry into a new market sector. She has done a fantastic job and the high quality of my CV has been commented on by recruiters – one of whom was kind enough to comment that it was the best CV received out of sixty initial candidates.
"Always available for advice or as a sounding board, Barbara is an extremely effective operator who consistently delivers to a high standard.”
Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Creative
J Vahey, Sep 2011
HR , Staff Handbook and General Business/Secretarial Support
"The Back Office has helped us in a variety of support tasks – attending/minuting meetings, drafting letters and emails, reviewing and editing our service level agreements, and providing general business support.
"Last year they produced our Staff Handbook. The professional standard to which it was produced was commented on by one of our apprentice's Learning Provider, that it was 'the most professional staff handbook/HR documentation they'd ever seen'.
"They deliver a high standard of service, are at all times professional, and we can recommend them with absolute confidence."
Computerpoint, Reading, May 2011
"Last year they produced our Staff Handbook. The professional standard to which it was produced was commented on by one of our apprentice's Learning Provider, that it was 'the most professional staff handbook/HR documentation they'd ever seen'.
"They deliver a high standard of service, are at all times professional, and we can recommend them with absolute confidence."
Computerpoint, Reading, May 2011
Proofreading Company Website
The Back Office recently helped us with some proofreading, and they were extremely quick, helpful and reasonably priced. We would definitely use them again.
Flintoff Ironmongers, Yorkshire
Flintoff Ironmongers, Yorkshire
General Business Support and Proofchecking
"The Back Office has helped two of my businesses over the past few months with a variety of tasks including: Updating customer lists through telephone contact, composing correspondence, assisting at events, proof checking and general business support.
"Barbara is a highly skilled, knowledgeable, experienced professional. She creates confidence and has the ability to connect with others easily. Her company offers a quality service with fast response times and absolute reliability."
S Catchick, Mar 2011
"Barbara is a highly skilled, knowledgeable, experienced professional. She creates confidence and has the ability to connect with others easily. Her company offers a quality service with fast response times and absolute reliability."
S Catchick, Mar 2011
General Support and Event Management
"I have known Barbara for 25 years and first dealt with her when she was in the shipping industry. At the time she was the Personal Assistant to the Chairman, and her knowledge of the business was exceptional. In more recent times I have used Barbara's services organising events in the UK.
Barbara is very versatile and efficient and I have no hesitation in recommending her services."
Robert Clifford, Chairman of International Catamarans, March 2010
Barbara is very versatile and efficient and I have no hesitation in recommending her services."
Robert Clifford, Chairman of International Catamarans, March 2010
General Support and CV/Job Seeking advice
"Barbara is one of those people who really go the extra mile to help with any problems that you may have. I have had the benefit of Barbara's help and advice on various occasions and she is one of those people that takes the time to listen. She is professional, dedicated and committed to helping other people."
S Wilson, Windsor, July 2011
S Wilson, Windsor, July 2011
Editing, Proofreading and General Business Support
"I would highly recommend The Back Office to anyone. I met Barbara several years ago and was so impressed by her professionalism that I contacted her for help with some marketing material that needed improvement and proof reading. The work was turned around extremely quickly and the quality was excellent. I have also used The Back Office for other ad-hoc work and as a sounding board for some ideas and I will continue to do so."
S Light, Aug 2010
S Light, Aug 2010
CV and Career Support
Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity
“I met Barbara for the first time at a network meeting in 2010 and she has proved to be a really good connection. She heard my story about jobseeking and offered to help with my CV. This she did with a professional but personable touch and was happy to refine it to a far higher standard then the one she first recieved from me. She has a great eye for detail and is methodical. She provided great results at the time and has continued to support me at every given opportunity making her a top notch networker as well.”
T Silver, Jan 2011
“I met Barbara for the first time at a network meeting in 2010 and she has proved to be a really good connection. She heard my story about jobseeking and offered to help with my CV. This she did with a professional but personable touch and was happy to refine it to a far higher standard then the one she first recieved from me. She has a great eye for detail and is methodical. She provided great results at the time and has continued to support me at every given opportunity making her a top notch networker as well.”
T Silver, Jan 2011
General Business Support
Barbara (The Back Office) has assisted me in many areas of my business including staffing and contractor issues, general business planning, business correspondence and cash flow. She is extremely knowledgeable on a wide range of business topics, and is totally dedicated to providing a first-class service. She has always been available at the end of the phone if I have needed help or guidance. Very supportive and professional. I recommend her services with absolute confidence.
M Ogden, Interiors, Berkshire, Apr 2010
M Ogden, Interiors, Berkshire, Apr 2010