17 Nov Meet the team: Hallum Bissenden
Week 7 of our Meet the Team series continues with Hallum Bissenden from our Sales team! Enjoy:
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m 26, I live in Hockley. Working in Sales, I started working here through Jody, she recommended me to Graham. Been working here nearly 4 years now, it’s gone really quickly.
What does your typical workday include?
Making calls, answering the phone, dealing with other people’s stuff when they’re away, covering and just day-to-day sales really.
What’s your favourite thing about working for Kingdom?
The people, the staff. It’s vastly different from any other place I’ve worked. I won’t be leaving here for the foreseeable future, that’s a big part of that, it’s because of the people that work here. I think they (Kingdom) are a company who have grown in a short space of time. When you have people like Graham and Susan running the company which has grown in such a short time, they haven’t forgotten where they’ve come from, so I don’t think all the growth has gone to their head at all, they’re very grounded; they understand where people have come from. Whereas other places I’ve worked before overtime you see where it’s gone to the owners heads a bit, it’s good working with grounded people.
What do you do outside of work?
Not a great deal really, try and go to the gym as much as possible, doesn’t always happen that way. Pre-Covid, try and go on holiday as much as possible, as often as possible really. The last place I went to was France, went to see a friend.
When you were younger what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a fireman when I was younger, but I think as you get older things become a little more realistic, there’s a lot of physical fitness that’s involved in it which I did not have…at all! I went down the wrong route to do it anyway, I went into college and did some terrible course that did not help, it was Public Services. You had to wear a uniform, it was the worst, a horrible polo top and you just looked like some school kid still. I did it for a year, it wasn’t until we visited a fire station and we got to ask questions at the end, and I asked “how much of this course would go towards becoming a fireman?” and they said virtually nothing!
Last book you read and last film you watched?
I don’t really read a lot, I never really read a lot. The last book I read page to page was probably like 15 years ago. The last film I watched was Borat 2; it’s funny but it’s a bit ridiculous at times.
What’s a hobby you’d like to get in to?
I’d love to be more handy, like carpentry. I know lots of carpenters and they’re just really handy with everything in general. That would be ideal prior to moving out.
Describe your job in 3 words.
Stressful, rewarding and busy.
What is a fun or interesting fact about yourself?
I’m a black belt in karate, haven’t trained in years but I got it.
What was your first job?
I worked as an apprentice at British Gas at 16. It was a lot at such a young age, there was one other lad who was 19 but everyone else was in their late 20s and 30s, which just goes to show it’s never too late to do something like that. I was just too immature, I was 16 and earning some money and everyone else was in college, you see 400 quid and you’re like wow!!! It goes within days though.
Who is your favourite person at Kingdom?
Chris and Ryan; I get on with them the most. I’ve been the most sociable outside of work with them, but ultimately everyone’s pretty good here, I can’t say there’s anyone I dislike.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Eating good food, and going out to eat. I look forward more to going out to eat than going out drinking.
What’s something big or small you’re really good at?
My mates probably come to me for advice in bad situations, which isn’t really ideal. They come to me when they’re in trouble.
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
To make more than one of me, like duplicate myself. You never have a bad weekend, you can do loads of things at once, get everything you need doing. And during the week get everything done at work, it would make life so much easier, like at lunch you could send one to the shops get all your lunch sorted then.
What football team do you support?
Man City!
Stay tuned for more Meet the Team blogs, every week!