Meet Jo White – Operations Support Officer

In our ‘meet the people’ series, UKAS looks at the people behind the UK’s accreditation body. Today we meet Jo White, Operations Support Officer.

Jo is the proud recipient of the UKAS Award for Outstanding Customer Service 2023 and was recognised by her colleagues for always being willing to help out and going above and beyond to meet the needs of customers.

What does your role involve day-to-day? 

Operations Support is part of the wider UKAS Customer Service team and we spend the majority of our time helping customers with a range of issues, from setting up new agreements to organising extensions to scope.

When did you join UKAS and what were you doing before? 

I joined the business in early 2021 after moving back to the Staines area from Wales when the property management company I was working for, managing logistics and operations, collapsed as a result of the pandemic.

Have you always worked in operations?

I spent the majority of my early career in high street retail management and am also a qualified jeweller. I’ve always really enjoyed interacting with customers and always do my best to help people.

What’s been your proudest moment at UKAS so far?

I was really proud when it was announced at our annual conference that Operations Support was the joint winner of the UKAS Team of the Year award 2023. As a team, we always go the extra mile and it was fantastic that this was recognised by the business.

Of course, I was really chuffed to receive the Outstanding Customer Service award myself and the best bit was knowing that I had been nominated by several different colleagues for the award – that really means a lot.

What do you like most about your job? 

I like the fact that a lot of the work we do involves paying close attention to detail and we apply this forensic approach to testing new customer-facing systems to ensure that any glitches are dealt with promptly. I’m part of a really supportive team and that is another thing I really enjoy about working at UKAS.

How do you relax in your spare time? 

I spend as much time as possible with my twin grandchildren, Peter and Lilly, who are six months old and keep me entertained. I also enjoy riding my motorbike, a great way to arrive at the office.