International women’s day is a global celebration championing the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. At Survitec, we want to take a moment to appreciate all of the women who work with, alongside and for us across the world in a varied range of job types and positions. At every level, female representation is critical, and we pride ourselves on being able to demonstrate just this. We have taken the time to speak to just a few women from across the Survitec business.
Annie Chew
Annie is based in Singapore and has been with Survitec for over 19 years. Annie is the Senior Personal Assistant to the SEA Managing Director. Her job role includes; supporting the regional team, organising local conferences, exhibitions and tours, preparing internal memos and forms and managing the local team’s calendars for new meetings and appointments.
Attracted by the location and the job scope, Annie said that whilst working at Survitec she’s had so many unforgettable experiences, especially working with her team and meeting lots of people from across the business. Her main advice is ‘Work hard, play hard, and work as a team!’
Fun Fact: We asked all of our interviewees a fun fact about themselves. Annie answered ‘My favourite season is winter because I can wear nice winter clothes and go skiing (even though I don’t know how to ski)!
Anette Gether
Anette is based in Lysaker, Norway and has been with Survitec since 2016 following the acquisition of Wilhelmsen Safety. Recently, Anette took on a new role as Regional Sales Manager. This role means that she is head of a team of account managers and responsible for both local customers such as ferries, and yards, and a large number of global customers such as ship owners and management companies.
Anette said ‘One of my personal goals for this year is to get to know our customers within this region – so I will be busy meeting and greeting. Her favourite part of the job is getting to meet a lot of great and inspiring people. When asked about what her key advice for keeping safe at sea was, Anette said ‘keeping your head above water, and use Survitec equipment to do so!’
Fun Fact: Anette said ‘I’ve done a lot of different activities over the years, everything from handball, gymnastics, figure skating, break-dancing (!), athletics, scuba diving - and I played the violin for quite some years. I’ve always loved challenging myself with different activities. Today, I enjoy outdoor activities that can be done together with my children and family, such as skiing, hiking and various types of water sports.’
Claire Tobijanski
Claire is based both at home and in London and has been with Survitec for over 6 years. Claire is the Group HR Director and is responsible for the HR throughout the world for our 3000 employees as well as being an executive team member for the business. She was drawn to Survitec because of the variety in the role and Claire said she was attracted to the exciting and innovative products Survitec manufacture and the ability to make a real difference to our customers by protecting lives every day.
Her favourite part of her role is ‘being able to provide solutions and strategy that really support and develop our people’. We asked Claire about a memorable experience she had working at Survitec ‘serving Christmas lunch at the Birkenhead site to all of the employees!’ When asked about what her key advice for keeping safe at sea was, Claire said ‘conditions can change quickly, be prepared and always be aware of your surroundings.’
Fun Fact: Claire said ‘I love skiing, I’m an ok skier but not advanced for sure! This year’s ski trip led me down a double black diamond by accident …. No way out but down! There are a few funny videos available!’
Hannah Burywood
Hannah is based in the Gosport office, England and has been with Survitec for nearly 7 years. Hannah is the Marketing Manager and is responsible for all marine marketing activity globally. She has a team of marketing professionals that support with the delivery of digital, branding, literature, PR & communications, events, sponsorship and much more. Hannah was drawn to working for Survitec because of her strong background in sailing; she has always worked in the marine leisure industry and was originally attracted to Survitec’s leisure brand Crewsaver.
She started off managing the marketing activities for Crewsaver but this quickly expanded into a global role across the entire marine business. We asked Hannah her most memorable moment at Survitec and she responded ‘ Attending sea trials to test a new marine evacuation system is hands down the best experience I have had at Survitec, it truly demonstrates the levels we go to as a business to ensure our product is the safest out there.’ Her key advice for keeping safe at sea is ‘Not all products are the same, the difference could save your life!’
Fun Fact: Hannah said, ‘I recently developed an obsession for French Bulldogs, Peanut is now 1.5 years old and Toby moves in very soon!’
Justine Heeley
Justine is also based in the Gosport office; England has been with Survitec for just over a month. Justine is the General Manager for Survitec UK, responsible of managing all of the Survitec UK service and distribution sites and working to achieve budgeted sales for the Northern Europe region. She was attracted to working for Survitec because we save lives at sea and is a business which does a lot of good for people across the globe. Although she has only been here for a short period Justine said that here favourite part of the job is ‘working with a great team of people and getting to see our teams in action providing great customer service to lots of big customers.’
During her time at Survitec, she said a memorable experience was winning a major contract for the supply of Crewsaver lifejackets. When asked about her key advice for keeping safe at sea was, Justine said ‘Make sure you get your lifejacket regularly serviced by technical experts at an authorised service centre. An annual service for your lifejacket is like your car’s MOT.’
Fun Fact: Justine said, ‘I once met Austin Healey at a rugby match in Twickenham and told him his surname was spelt incorrectly!’