Park People: Katy from Whittard

This month, we chatted to Katy Woollard, Product Specialist at luxury hot drink retailer Whittard of Chelsea, to learn more about the company and its plans for the Milton Park coronation street party.

Hi Katy! Can you tell us a bit about Whittard of Chelsea in your own words?

Whittard of Chelsea began in 1886 when our founder Walter Whittard started selling the finest tea, coffee, and hot chocolate in London with the straight-forward business approach to “buy the best”.

Over 135 years later, our never-ending curiosity to find unique blends and distinctive tastes lives on at Whittard. We continue to flourish and our ambition will always remain the same – to ensure every customer can enjoy their own Whittard moment.

What does your role as Product Specialist at Whittard involve?

I support and teach product knowledge to every department within the company. This could be anything from supporting our head office team at Milton Park with new products and their journeys, providing B2B support with training for international partners, to giving lessons on how to use our commercial products. In our retail stores, I also support with sales and customer journeys, aiming to uphold our brand standards across the whole business.

Effective communication is key to my role, and I enjoy constantly engaging with different people, showcasing our products and sharing the company’s story. Over the past nine years, I’ve really taken pride in building strong relationships within my role and look forward to creating many more.

What’s in store for the Park’s coronation street party?

We’re all really looking forward to the coronation street party – not only to enjoy the celebrations but also to further showcase our products and brand to our Milton Park neighbours and the local community.

Following the success of our Mother’s Day pop-up stall in the Bee House, we’ll be hosting another pop-up at the street party which I’ll be supporting on. So, if you’d like to learn more about or are keen to buy any of our luxury tea, coffee and hot chocolate, head down to our stall for a chat.

If that’s not tempting enough, we’ll also have free tasters for you to enjoy on the day as well!

How does your life and work connect at Milton Park?

Milton Park’s greatest characteristic that supports my work-life balance is its easy access to London, where I live. My journey to the Park from Paddington via train and bus takes only 40-50mins, making it a pleasant commute, especially for living in a different city.

The availability of rooms for hire is also really useful – when a breakout room is needed for meetings or training sessions, it’s nice not having far to go and the Milton Park staff are always supportive and friendly.

What do you enjoy the most about working at Milton Park?

It’s got to be the people – I always see a friendly face and a smile whenever I’m out and about around the Park. Also, our office – a wonderful open and creative space – is great to work in.

The frequency of buses from Didcot Parkway station makes travelling sustainably that much easier and if I ever need to stay over, I have a great choice of local hotels and pubs.

Fancy being featured in our ‘Park People’ series? Drop us a message at: ma*******@********rk.com