Pros
- conferences and freebies - some decent people at bottom level - company car
Cons
The business uses a third-party “inside sales team” to call customers and push orders using an “add to order” process that doesn’t work. Over 95% of these orders never show up — so it’s dead money and zero return on investment, purely to make the numbers look good and mislead stakeholders. Sales tools and tech are unreliable. The systems regularly crash or glitch, making your job harder and slower — and leadership doesn’t seem to care. If you go off sick due to work-related stress or mental health, you’re pressured with threats under the absence policy and told to attend Teams calls during your sick leave. One was even labelled “wellbeing” but clearly intended to initiate a termination process. Requests for reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 (such as email-only communication during mental health leave) are ignored. Managers show no understanding of mental health or legal obligations. The Manchester team managers and senior leaders are completely out of touch with what sales actually involves. They rely on cheesy, meaningless slogans like “I’m proud” and obsess over appearances instead of results. Discrimination is real — both racially and toward disabilities/mental health. You’re treated differently if you’re not part of the inner clique or don’t “fit in.” Favouritism is rife. Colleagues with lower performance are rewarded, while others are denied bonuses based on vague or changing criteria. Performance data is withheld when you ask for clarity. You’re judged, but not given the numbers to understand why or how. Managers add no value — they just approve holidays, recycle pre-written PowerPoint decks, and pretend to coach while reading off scripts they don’t understand. Toxic culture where speaking up or challenging unfairness leads to being sidelined or branded “negative.” No transparency, no inclusion, and no genuine support. HR and senior leaders protect themselves and leave you to burn out. You're only respected if you're silent, submissive, and smiling.