Gemma Roberts

My Background

I’m Gemma Roberts, I was born and raised in Leicester, home of King Richard III resting place and Walkers Crisps! I moved to London in 2004 to go to University and spent 16 years working and building a life in South West London. I’ve since moved back to the Midlands and put down roots.

My Education

I graduated from University in 2008 with a 1st Class BA (Hons) in Business Studies from London South Bank University. I completed a sandwich course, so my degree lasted 4 years, one of which was a year in industry. This was great and led to working part-time in my final year for the same business, as well as them offering me a full time position when I graduated.

My Experience

When I was younger, I had a paper round, a cleaning job, worked in retail and then went into recruitment.

I’ve been in Operations since 2009 and have never looked back. In operations you learn and understand all areas of the business and how each area impacts the big picture and top line KPIs. Operations differ across businesses, but in general you cover finance, HR, legal and compliance, so no day is ever the same. As Head of Operations you spend your time taking a business’s vision and ensure that it’s executed, which is hugely exciting. I have always worked with start-ups and SMEs, as I love the fast pace and seeing a founder's ideas come to life.

My Achievements

I like to celebrate the small stuff, not just the big defining moments, so I have a lot to be proud of, but if I have to list a few...being featured in a local newspaper as a kid for the charity work I’d done, completing some solo travel in South East Asia, getting a First at University and most recently buying a house! 

My Expertise

In recent years I’ve built my knowledge and experience on people strategy and HR, Finance and modelling, leadership and coaching. 

My Interests

I love to cook and bake, but I’m no Gordon Ramsey or Mary Berry! I’ve been on a few courses to improve my skills, including a Thai cooking class in Bangkok, called Cooking with Poo and a vegan cupcake class in London.  In a past life I think I was a CSI as I’m always watching real life crime documentaries and reading crime fiction. I like to try new things, to expand my hobbies. I’ve tried archery, axe throwing, bouldering, kayaking and lots more! I’m currently restarting my Spanish classes as I have family in Spain.

My Career Highlight So Far

Setting up my own consulting business during the Covid-19 lockdown so that I could offer my expertise to start-ups who weren’t in a position to hire someone full time with my skills. I worked with a few great businesses and met some fantastic people. It’s through this that I met Subly, and a year (and a bit) later I am joining the team full-time!