Here at Protocol, we know all about the importance of good people, we pride ourselves in ‘placing people first’ and have been doing so for 25 years now!
Our business is full of great people, and you may only interact with one or two in your work with us, but there is a whole army of support in the background from IT to Marketing and Compliance to Recruitment Consultants. We thought it was important for you to find out a bit more about the people that make up #TeamProtocol. In this series, you will find out a bit about the person behind the screen, or at the end of the phone.
To continue the Protocol Spotlight series, we would like to introduce you to Simon Hunt, Payroll Manager. Simon has been part of the Protocol Family for a whopping 19 years now, and is based at our Head Office in Nottingham. Here’s what we found out about Simon:
- What car do you drive?
A Fiesta. It’s grey and my Son christened it ‘The Mouse’, because it looks like a mouse.
- What is your favourite food?
You mean like a death row last meal? I do like arancini. Or a decent mac and cheese. There’s a lad in Loughborough market who sells the most amazing Indian food – anything from his stall scores very high. And then of course there’s the slightly cliché, but very valid choice of Mum’s Sunday roast. This topic is much discussed at Protocol – we do like our grub. But if you really want to talk food then find Kate Manning; she can rattle on for hours about feeding time.
- What is your favourite drink?
Lagavulin 16 year old single malt.
- What is your favourite film, book or TV show?
Call Me By Your Name – film and book probably. Oh, and Breaking Bad… obviously.
- Do you have any hobbies?
I love to cook whilst knocking back a few glasses of red with music on loud. I’m also quite keen on photography. I run a fair bit but that’s more of an effort to stave off the pounds than something I do for the sheer joy.
- What is your dream holiday destination?
Unadventurous as it sounds, I love South Devon, for sentimental reasons mostly. But for years I’ve wanted to visit Pripyat and the Chernobyl exclusion zone – I would find it fascinating.
- Tell us a fun fact about yourself
I once appeared live on BBC News (national, not local) to discuss a nationwide BACS failure and how it had impacted our company and presumably other firms too. Many years later someone in IT told me that my rant was all unfounded – turns out they’d meddled with a server that caused our bother on that occasion.
- Do you have any hidden talents?
I have a talent/condition where I tend to store obscene amounts of pointless trivia (and struggle to retain that’s actually important…but important stuff is normally dull anyway).
- What sports teams do you follow?
Bath Rugby. Also, the England Cricket team – especially the current lot who seem like a genuinely likeable bunch.
- What one skill or talent would you love to be able to master?
Speaking another language or two would be nice. Or whistling super loud, like some people seem to be able to annoyingly effortlessly.
- What’s your dream car?
Mercedes Benz 300SL Coupe (ideally in silver with red interior please).
- What’s your favourite song, band or artist?
Pretty much all of the musical Hamilton.
- What was your dream job as a child?
Payroll Manager… obviously.
- And finally, why do you love working at Protocol?
Protocol has been part of my life for so long. Between day 1 and now, there’s been a whole lot of water under that bridge; a couple of kids, a couple of marriages, all sorts of highs and lows – and Protocol has been a key part of this journey. Plus where else would I get an almost limitless supply of Matt Ray?
