From maternity leave to distinction at Level 3

Victoria Adamson had high hopes in the summer of 2021. An admin manager with Bell Group, one of the UK’s largest property maintenance contractors, she started the CMI Level 3 Diploma in Principles of Management and Leadership and was aiming for a distinction. But life got in the way.

“The qualification was supposed to take 18 months,” she says, “but finding out I was pregnant and taking a year off in the middle meant the course had to be extended. My eventual return to work was even more of a struggle, as two team members left within a few months of me returning and it was down to me to rebuild the team. 

“To be honest, coming back from maternity leave, it was a struggle to get out of the house in the mornings. So, as far as the course went, I said I’d be glad simply to pass. But I completed the course and got a call from the assessor who told me I’d been awarded a distinction. I was blown away and beyond thrilled. 

“It just goes to show, if you want to achieve something, you can.”

A deeper understanding of management with Level 3

Victoria joined the Airdrie-based Bell Group in her native Scotland 14 years ago and now helps to run its office in Kent, where she handles, she laughs, “everything”. That includes invoicing, wages, training, subcontractor issues, complaints and more.

The company, which started out 35 years ago as a painting and decorating business, now employs some 2,000 people and provides a range of services to more than 350,000 properties, half of which are local authority owned. Today, its work also includes fire-safety upgrade works, kitchen and bathroom fitting and, increasingly, efforts around decarbonisation.

Victoria’s CMI Level 3 course, which she completed through training provider Ioda, gave her a deeper understanding of management. It helped her with team building, dealing with challenging issues and giving others responsibilities. 

“The team at Ioda were great,” she says, “really helpful – always at the end of the phone or email to guide you through.”

Prior to taking the qualification… I was micromanaging, in a way, and found it extremely difficult to relinquish control