Alison Candlin - Getting To Know You

Another recent addition to the team, Alison Candlin joined us on a permanent basis in November 2022. Starting as a freelance copywriter, Alison is now full-time as RPC's Marketing Manager, finding ways to enhance and prioritise our marketing efforts. 

Where are you based? 

I live in a small village in Wiltshire, about 10 miles outside Bath. I’m delighted to have joined RPC’s South West Chapter together with Alex Chewins, Chris Woodbridge and John Lister. It’s a lovely part of the world, but it’s not God’s Own County, is it?

Tell us a bit about yourself

I grew up in Worcester, in the Midlands, but I never really went back there after university. I lived and worked in London for about 16 years until we needed more space for our growing family of boys – twins George and Will, who are now 18 and Henry, 14 – and did that thing of moving to the country. We’ve been here 14 years now. I might not have roots in Yorkshire, but I do have branches there, as John’s family is based in Bradford, so I’ve been coming up to the Guiseley area for more than 30 years, and feel very much at home there.

How has your career path brought you to RPC?

Words are my thing. I spent the first chunk of my working life in book publishing, writing and editing weighty illustrated non-fiction titles – lots of DIY, gardening and cookery, but also history, IT, a bit of legal, general knowledge etc – so I became a dab hand at making sometimes complex information clear and easy to understand. When I turned to freelancing, I started to get requests from businesses to help to improve the written quality of their end-of-year reports, bids and tenders, website copy and other similar tasks. I’ve been gradually drawn into RPC from, ‘Can you give this document the once-over for us, please?’ to doing a couple of days a month, then more and more, until I took on the full-time, permanent role of Marketing Manager in November 2022.

What attracted you to RPC?

I love the team spirit at RPC, how welcoming everyone is, and how people are empowered to do their jobs without micro-managing, but with a warm cushion of support. It’s the best kind of place to work.

What are you working on right now? 

We’ve got a couple of exciting business announcements coming up soon, so I’m working on making sure that we get those right. We’re also focusing on making our marketing more targeted this year and to do that we need to find out more about our customers so that we can be sure we’re marketing the right messages to the right people in the right ways. Work in progress – I’m seeing databases in my sleep …

What do you like best about your job?

There’s always something different going on. RPC’s a small team but packs a lot in, with multiple strands to our business, so to make sure the world knows about all the great work we’re doing is a busy and varied task.

What do you do in your spare time?

I do my best to keep at least a loose grip on what the boys are doing and where they are – that’s quite a challenge some days, but at least the older two don’t need my taxi services anymore. We have a spaniel called Sprocket, who’s a terrific tonic and unlike the rest of the household is always pleased to see me. She gets me out into the fresh air for walks in the countryside around where we live. I’ve always had cats before, but the dog really is the best thing ever. I’m very involved in the management of our village’s community shop, which is 100% volunteer run – it’s incredibly rewarding to see the impact the shop’s had on combating social isolation and supporting other local community groups and just bringing the village’s community spirit to life. It’s a great thing to be part of.

I do quite like a glass of wine.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always thought I’d be a teacher. More or less all my family members were teachers – I don’t think I realised there was any other kind of job out there. I toyed briefly with being an investment banker (it was the 80s, after all) and did my school work experience in a local bank. Alas, there was no Michael Douglas in the Malvern branch of the Midland Bank and the girl the year before me had inadvertently transferred a large sum of money out of someone’s account, so my experience of banking was supremely dull and I decided against a career in high finance.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? 

“I am woman, hear me roar.” Thank you, Helen Reddy.

What’s on your desk?

Usually a cup of tea – and what some might consider a mess, but I know exactly what’s there and where to find it. Don’t try to help me by tidying up.

How do you like your tea?

Yorkshire tea, of course. Strong and straight – no sugar.  

Dog or cat? 

Dog, most definitely. Why did no-one tell me about them sooner? 

If your house was on fire, what 3 things would you save?

The dog, obviously; my watch; and did I mention the dog?

What would your superpower be?

I wish I could bounce out of bed at 6am ready to go, rather than my morning routine being more like the opening sequence of Four Weddings and a Funeral.