Meet the Bullens Team – Kerry Redman

Bullens Blog, Bullen Healthcare

Our latest blog in our series of interviews with the people here at Bullens is with Kerry Redman, one of our external sales team, and a well-known face to many. Kerry has been at Bullens for 25 years this month! We had a great time interviewing her, so hope you’ll enjoy hearing all about her time here at Bullens.

It got us thinking about what else happened 25 years ago, well… George W Bush and Boris Yeltsin declared the Cold War formally over; Disneyland Paris opened; Charles and Diana announced their separation; the new 10p coin was introduced; Stella Rimmington became the first female Director General of M15; and Alan Shearer became Britain’s most expensive footballer at £3.6m!

How long have you worked at Bullens, and what did you do before?

25 years! I came from straight from college, similar to an apprenticeship, to learn how to do book-keeping. After that, I somehow became office junior, then they promoted me to purchase ledger. After that, I got moved to the post room, which I decorated with all my Guns N’ Roses posters. Back then we only packed and picked about 40 parcels a day. I was then sent on a course to learn how to do belt fitting, and after I passed that I was then sent to work in the shop we had, where I did fittings of the belts and prostheses.

Once I’d got a bit bored of that and fancied a change, I asked if I could start to work in the stoma department. I went back to being office junior, but then I became a care advisor and van driver in one! And I had a bank of about 400 patients which I looked after.

Finally I started doing open days, and a mix of seeing nurses to develop relationships with them, whilst still doing the phone calls with customers. As time went by I started spending more and more time out on the road meeting with clinical staff, and then probably about six years ago was when I went full time as an external sales rep- and that’s about it really!

What do you do on a day to day basis?

I have appointments to go and see my clinicians, whether it be stoma nurses, urology nurses, continence nurses etc. I see them in both acute and community settings, to make sure they’re getting all the support they need. I also spend a lot of my time ‘ward walking’ in hospitals to make sure they are fully stocked with our home packs. On top of this, I do have to try and source new business as well as just maintaining our current business and relationships.

I sometimes work Saturdays, showing my face at all the open days and big conferences, which I love doing.

What’s the best thing about working at Bullens?

I just think I have a lot of passion for the company, I have a lot of faith in the company as well. I enjoy going out on the road and talking about the service we offer at Bullens, because I do believe we are the best, and I wouldn’t be trying to sell it if I didn’t think that. It would be very hard for me to try and work somewhere else and try and do the same job. In fact I couldn’t!

The Bullen family has given me a lot over the years, they’ve let me come and go the way that I want to, and there’s probably a few incidents where I should have been sacked! But instead they let me grow, and I’ve gained a lot of independence from it, and I really just love my job.

What’s the funniest question you’ve ever been asked at work?

There is a lot, and it’s mainly to do around measuring certain body parts. We used to offer a service called ‘home & dry’, which was for male adult nappies. However, from time to time we did used to deal with people who used to have a certain fetish for this type of thing, which used to lead us down a whole different line of questioning!

What do you like doing outside of work?

I’m a big socialiser, I love going and eating out. I’m big on family and love spending time with my niece and nephew. I love going in to town with my mum on a Saturday morning, or going for a walk down the beach with my dad and the dog. 20 years ago I probably wouldn’t have dreamt of doing anything like that, but now I love those moments.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself?

I’m allergic to kiwi fruits! I have had a reaction in work before, and at the time we thought it was the glue I was using. I haven’t really got facts I’ve just got funny stories, like the time I was chased through a field by a police helicopter whilst delivering parcels because they thought I was in a stolen vehicle!