JOURNALISM was the first choice of career for Consortium chief executive Melanie Teal.

Miss Teal, 38, who took over the reins of the Trowbridge-based firm in April abandoned her journalism studies in favour of business when she discovered it was not what she thought.

She said: "I wanted to be a journalist because I liked writing but then the tutor spent ages telling us how to use words of one syllable."

Having been involved in helping out in the businesses her parents ran while growing up in Hayling Island, Hampshire, Miss Teal decided instead to go back to college and take a business studies diploma.

"I really enjoyed doing that and it was how I first got interested in banking."

From college, Miss Teal went to work for NatWest Bank and was then transferred first to its London investment office then to Bristol.

In Bristol she joined another bank where she was selling finance - a role she did not enjoy.

Fifteen years ago she joined the Canal Road procurement and fulfilment firm, The Consortium and has never looked back.

She began as an assistant buyers assistant and has worked her way up through the ranks, becoming customer director in 2003 and taking over as chief executive from predecessor Jeff Gould over the past year.

Mr Gould, who also worked his way up through the firm after joining in 1970, led a management buy-out with a group of other senior managers at Wiltshire County Council in 1995, which led to the creation of the firm as it is today.

Now the organisation employs 250 people and turns over £40m at its 100,000 sq ft office and warehouse complex.

Working at the firm has literally changed Miss Teal's life as it was also the place she met her husband, Mark Barnett, who is the company's chief operating officer.

The couple live just outside Trowbridge in Bulkington and share their home with Mr Barnett's two sons Tom, 20, and 19-year-old Will and their pet cats.

Top tips

  • Make your own opportunities and always go to the manager with solutions rather than problems.
  • Be prepared to put in more than you get out, at least in the short term. You need to work hard and make personal sacrifices for the sake of investing in your own future.
  • There is no such thing as a glass ceiling. You set your own limits.
  • Be personable and approachable. I always make sure I meet new staff within the first week. I don't want to be walking along the corridor wondering who people are and having them think the same about me.
  • It is important to enjoy your job. If you get up in the morning and dread going to work then you need to do something about it.