| "Things
happened so quickly from when I first applied to join the company"
she says. "Five days before I was due to start I received a
telephone call asking if I would like some surveillance experience. The
next day I found myself getting up at 5 a.m. to work with one of the
company's surveillance guys 50 miles away, watching a client's employee
who was moonlighting. It hasn't stopped since". |
 |
| "
I love undercover work. In one week I went from posing as a 30-year-old
married woman to acting as a 17-year-old media student. All that on top
of car sitting, mystery shopping exercises and pursuing a target on a
vehicle surveillance." |
 |
| After
completing her University Degree, she worked as P.A. to the Secretary of
a Gentleman's Club in London. Her flair for investigation accelerated
when working for a company in Brighton. The Managing Director there
seemed to have more than one skeleton in his unsavoury cupboard. |
 |
| "
I went to work as P.A. to the MD for a Brighton company. All seemed
above board at first, then I received telephone calls from him while he
was out, telling me to "lock the doors" and not to let anyone
in. He often seemed to have wads of cash and there were a host of
companies in similar names. I left as soon as I realised that all was
probably not above board there. Interestingly enough, I took the trouble
to make a few inquiries recently - mostly for personal reasons; I was
not surprised to find the man who ran the company acted under several
different names." |
 |
| "Catching
out crooks like my old boss is one of the things that appeals to me"
So how does she see the next few months? "The company is
constantly expanding, opening new offices and getting more and more
people in with different skills. No two days are the same. I can really
get my teeth into this kind of work and thrive on the everyday
challenges." |
 |
| "One
of my favourite projects is working as a
Mystery Shopper
for the licensed trade. Pub chains, off-licences and supermarkets employ
us to evaluate whether their store managers will sell alcohol or tobacco
to minors. It often involves dressing in school uniform and playing the
part of a schoolgirl! I am quite short - 5'2" - so I can carry it
off well" |
 |
| "What
I find incredible is the lack of response from off licence managers and
staff. Slouch up to the counter in school uniform and alice band in your
hair with a school rucksack on your back, fumbling to have enough pocket
money and 9 out of 10 staff will sell you 10 Marlboro Lights and an
Alcopop without asking for ID. The response when we debrief with their
bosses with video and report is often amusing, and the service is a
valuable standards and training tool for retailers"
[watch video] |
 |
| "Having
a job like mine has it's benefits in that people are interested in what
we do. I have always wanted to appear on a chat show and my ambition was
realised recently when, having done some location filming, we were
invited on to the Richard
& Judy [watch video] show to
talk about our Neighbours
scheme - had to have my photo
taken with them!". I also had a lot of fun doing an article
for New Woman Magazine
and even the News of the
World - as well as filming for a BBC series called
"Private Eyes"
[watch video] |
 |
| "
Not enough people know about what Private Investigators can do for them.
There is a lot more we can do for businesses than check on employees and
catch the thieves. But if you want to know what life is really like read
this newspaper article." |
|
