While those who have been around a while probably don't need me to introduce myself, for those who are new here, I’m Victoria. I’m a Level 2 Customer Service & Operations Analyst, and, as of next month, I’ll have been at Simwood for seven years.
And what a seven years it's been!
When I joined Simwood in 2019 (well, Sipcentric before the acquisition merger), I was moving into my first role in tech. Before that, I’d worked in management and customer service roles at various companies for almost 10 years. I had plenty of experience with people, customers and the general chaos that comes with day-to-day operations, but technology up to that point had mostly just been a hobby.
I joined at Support Level 1, and I didn't really know what this career jump would hold for me. Would I enjoy it? What would the next step be? And would that next step be at Simwood?
It turns out there were plenty of opportunities to grow and progress within Simwood, and I enjoyed the culture, the people, and there were some pretty good benefits too. So I guess I got my answer.
Fast forward to 2022, and I moved into the Operations Manager role. That was a big change for me and gave me a completely different view of the business. Instead of just looking at the issue in front of me, I was looking more at the bigger picture and how things worked across the teams, where processes could be improved and, importantly, how all of that affected the customer. I learned some invaluable skills and gained some great insight during this time from working with the rest of the senior management team.
At the beginning of last year, I stepped down from the Operations Manager role. It might sound like a strange move to some people, but for me it made sense. I wanted to focus on improving one specific area of the business.
What area is that, I hear you ask?... Number portability (I know I’m a glutton for punishment).
There’s a lot that happens behind the scenes when a customer wants to move a number, and when everything works properly, you probably don't even think about it. When it doesn't work properly, however, it causes no end of frustration for you, the customer.
Porting has long been a key focus for our development team, and my role has been to build on that momentum, working closely with Operations and our brilliant devs to keep raising the bar for you, the customer. A big part of that has been the porting automation, which I hope you've already seen the benefit of.
While stepping down gave me the opportunity to take a slightly different approach to my career, it also made room for something else that was about to become rather important...
In October 2025, I became a mum after welcoming my daughter and headed off on maternity leave. This may explain why you haven't seen me in your inboxes lately. Did you miss me?
Maternity leave was a really nice break, as much of a break as looking after a tiny human can be, anyway! It gave me the chance to focus on being a mum and enjoy that time with my daughter, but towards the end I was always looking forward to getting back into work and some sort of routine.
And now that time has come.
I’m looking forward to getting stuck back in, catching up with everyone and seeing what’s changed while I’ve been away. Spoiler alert: not a lot when it comes to industry-wide porting changes! I was hoping that the porting industry might have made some great leaps forward while I was away. Sadly, I can confirm that it has not, so there is still plenty of work to be done!
So, to sum up for those who already know me: Hi again!
And for those I haven't met yet: I'm looking forward to it.