TEA BREAK WITH….Jamie Bartle, Senior Product Manager - Art & Print Papers
We sat down with Jamie and asked him 6 questions.
Tell us about a typical day in your role at James Cropper.
Like most people, I’m a bit reliant on caffeine so the morning routine starts with a cup coffee! Usually just a black coffee with no sugar. Best way to get going!
As a marketing team, we have regular catch up’s daily at 9am. This provides a great forum to discuss projects that we are working on and to check in with the team. We started these daily meetings when the pandemic started and as a team, we have found them to be really valuable for work and also wellbeing so they have continued.
Since the transition to flexible working, I’ve become more reliant on my task list. I check that I’ve completed the urgent tasks and plan to tackle the rest of my day from here.
As a product manager I can often work with different departments across the mill and it’s fair to say that no two days are ever the same!
During your career at James Cropper, what has been your most memorable highlight?
Most memorable would be working with a customer to help bring their World’s Favourite Colour project to life. Seeing the amount of research and data they had gathered was quite staggering and the end result was a beautiful colour which is known as Marrs Green. It’s even got its own Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrs_green
What work are you particularly proud of at James Cropper?
There have been many customer projects I have been involved with that I’m proud of, for example, CupCycling™. One of my friends has got into the habit of purchasing Hallmark CupCycling™ greetings cards after I was talking about the innovation and how it upcycles used coffee cups, that makes me proud – it also shows they listen to me as well!
But projects aside, my proudest achievement is becoming part of the James Cropper team. A papermaker located in a small Cumbrian village that has a truly global reach throughout its product offering.
James Cropper is such a forward-thinking organisation which is constantly looking to innovate. Being part of this team provides a great sense of achievement day to day, what more could you want in a job!?
Who do you most admire in the industry?
I think it’s incredibly hard to pin point one exact person for this. Working at such an innovative company you are often in awe at the amount of knowledge colleagues have around the mill. I admire people who have contributed to change and I think that is true for a lot of James Cropper colleagues and the fact that we are still producing bespoke paper after 177 years is testament to that.
Which three things would you take to a desert island?
1. Solar powered Jet Ski
2. Unlimited supply of meal replacement shakes - so I don’t starve on my jet ski back to the mainland
3. Suncream – factor 30 – so I don’t burn on my jet ski back to mainland.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Pub quizzes. Sports rounds tend to be where I contribute the points, but I sometimes have some useless knowledge in the back of my mind that can come in handy. Did you know that the area code 01632 is not a real UK phone area code and is only used on TV programmes! That’s a fact!
