Sue Hammond once considered putting her feet up and retiring to her home in Cyprus.
But Manx woman Sue was homesick for the island and returned to continue her career and be close to her family and friends.
Now Sue, 56, a mother of two grown up sons and grandmother to identical twin granddaughters, has embarked on her latest challenge, running her own business.
Sue is director of newly-formed Connect2HR, based in the serene surroundings of a former church turned into offices at St Mary’s , The Parade, Castletown.
She has high hopes for the human resources management company and does not regret changing her mind about retiring to Cyprus.
She recalled how she and her husband Robert went to the Mediterranean isle around eight years ago with the possible intentions of staying there for the rest of their lives.
‘I went to work in a fund management house and did that for four days a week.
‘I used to commute from our house in Paphos to Limassol. One of the highlights was driving to work. I saw the Red Arrows practising in the bay. I thought that was fantastic. But I was homesick actually for the Isle of Man, and my two sons Michael and Christopher were here. I’d been there three years and I thought if I stay any longer I will be out of the market. I felt my professional career might go so I came back. At first I thought I might temp for six months and then go back to Cyprus for six months.’
In the end Sue accepted an offer from Abacus to work with them in the island. Eventually she was made HR manager there.
She stayed there for eight years until the opportunity came up to run her own company. It came about after she linked up with Mark Schofield and Maureen Quayle of Optimus Fiduciaries Ltd.
Her office is in the same building as Optimus and on the day Business News visited it was sweltering hot and, Sue pointed out, not unlike Cyprus where she still goes for holidays. Sue said the decision to
set up in Castletown was the right one.
She said Mark and Maureen run Optimus after a management buy-out and they run their business from the offices in the centre of Castletown.
Fully qualified HR professional Sue ‘made the jump’ to run her own business after consulting with Mark and Maureen.
‘It appealed to me to be out of Douglas. Many reasons, one of which is that I believe people want some anonymity and these offices in Castle town are ideal and provide a perfect platform.
‘I lead this business but Mark and Maureen are there for back-up if needed.’
Sue said the service she offers is particularly pertinent for small to medium sized companies who do not necessarily have their own HR manager of department.
‘With the best will in the world directors don’t always necessarily know, or have the skills to deal with the sort of very sensitive, what I call the sensitive areas, the human interest.
‘That’s how sometimes things can go terribly wrong, messages can be misconstrued, communications can be blurred.
‘Sometimes an independent, impartial person is really helpful in those situations and that’s why I thought there could be opportunities for the business skills that I have.
‘To be ab le to deal with sensitive situations such as redundancy which is not easy, so I felt they were areas where I could add value to a business.
‘And then on the other side it is general HR administration.’
Sue who employs an assistant, said she knows that in this environment there are also takeovers and acquisitions which bring a whole new set of challenges for businesses.
She that in the Isle of Man, with a diversified workforce where there are new outlets for business, talent management and training is a very important issue in terms of human resources.
‘HR can make very valuable contributions to business,’ she said.
Sue is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.
She has more than 20 years’ experience developing, advising on and implementing policies relating to the effective use of personnel.
Between 1986 and 2004 she worked for Coutts in the island.
She joined as an investment administrator and was promoted to supervisor within the securities department gaining extensive knowledge of offshore markets and people management.
It was after working at Coutts that Sue left for Cyprus and she acknowledged retirement was definitely on her mind for a while.
But she has never regretted the decision to return.
Sue, who lives in Santon with her husband, who runs a security business, said that the work life balance is perfect and out of work she is kept busy with her two granddaughters, Ava and Mischa, aged two and a half.
As the sun blazed through the windows with a perfect view of Castletown harbour, Sue said she loves nothing better than strolling to places such as Scarlett for the occasional lunch break.
As to the future she plans to build the office and its potential. Things are still in their infancy but her name is getting about by word of mouth and she plans to eventually take on more people as business grows.
She has also embraced social media.
And no guessing where holidays will be taken. Sue told how one of her famous neighbours in Paphos is the Scottish actor and impressionist Stanley Baxter.
Once a household name on TV Baxter was one of the best-known entertainers around.
He’s still fondly remembvered in Cyprus where local restaurants proudly show off his signed photo.
l If anyone wants to contact Sue for an informal interview she can be contacted on 678900 or 485728.
email: sue@connect2hr.im
website: www.connect2hr.im