Celebrating Our Women In Business
This International Women’s Day we are celebrating the achievements of women in business – more specifically OUR women in business.
We’d like to share a little more about three of our long-standing employees and highlight their achievements and career journey.
Denise Papadatos
Denise has been with CMA for 12 years, working as part of the Portsmouth branch before expanding to encompass the Guildford area as well. She has been working in recruitment for more than 30 years and has received many accolades during her stellar career. Denise started at CMA in the Accountancy & Finance Division before moving to the HR Division in 2020; this has been an excellent challenge for her and the department has gone from strength to strength.
When asked what she enjoys most about her role Denise said “I really enjoy the relationships I form with clients and candidates and the buzz of making that perfect match.”
In her personal life, Denise is most proud of surviving 34 years of marriage, her son and her excellent baking skills. She can often be found taking special requests in the office on some of her signature dishes – her sausage rolls are a firm favourite!
In the workplace; when asked what is most important to her Denise says a cohesive working environment amongst colleagues is a must.
Alex James
Alex joined CMA almost nine years ago and has grown in confidence and self-belief as she has progressed in her career; being promoted to Senior Consultant and most recently becoming Division Manager in October 2021. Alex says “It meant a lot to be recognised by the Senior Management team and my peers alike for this promotion.”
During her time at CMA she has built a strong commercial desk within the Southampton branch, developed long-standing, positive relationships with both candidates and clients and mentored a number of colleagues, something she has particularly enjoyed.
In her personal life Alex is most proud of purchasing her dream home in 2020 with her partner and loves spending time relaxing with her dog and horse.
Alex is inspired by positive energy and hardworking, genuine people and believes that having a strong team unit that she can trust is essential to her professional development – she loves that she has such a strong team at CMA.
Michelle Pena-Stapleton
Michelle has been with CMA for over 20 years and has seen the company evolve so much during this time. She has literally ‘grown up’ with CMA, having joined the firm fresh out of university, subsequently securing her first home, getting engaged, and having three maternity leaves!
Despite the juggling of being a working parent, she continues to enjoy the demands of her role and over the years, she has achieved her recruitment qualification, become a Divisional Manager as well as offering support to 1000s of candidates and clients in the local and surrounding areas.
Regardless of the ever-changing landscape of the recruitment market, Michelle still loves her job and can’t imagine herself doing anything else. “CMA is my extended family and I’m so very lucky to have formed life-long friendships with my colleagues and clients alike.”
