Growing More Than Businesses – Building Careers in the handl Group

Alongside the champion boxers, world-class rugby captains, financial experts and AI entrepreneurs that spoke at our 2025 conference, we heard from two people who show that handl Group is about growing much more than careers.

First-time speakers and long-time handl Group team members Leanne Ayres and Sarah Roddy are proof that when our people have big ideas, the right skills, and the commitment to developing their careers, life within our group is all about progression.

Keep backing yourself, keep moving upwards

While Sarah is now General Manager at ACCA and Leanne is General Manager at Corporé, both started their careers on the same desk at Speed Medical. With a range of varied roles over the past 15 years, both have focused on their own development. It’s an opportunity available to everyone at the group.

In her presentation, Leanne summarises her approach to development within handl Group as committing to backing herself.

“New isn’t always comfortable. By backing myself, being flexible and showing I could adapt, I kept opening up new opportunities across the group.”

No matter how you join the group, there will be opportunities that open up. It’s just down to you to take advantage of them.

Look for the right mentors

For both Sarah and Leanne, their time within the group has been about learning from every leader they’ve come into contact with. Open communication, knowledge sharing and personal development have been key to her career progression.

Informal mentoring has always been a perk of the job at handl, with access to multiple experts and leaders with a range of experiences and specialities. Having learned from (current divisional MD) Susan Henry, group CFO Ian Robins, and a range of others, Sarah’s keen to point out that this depth of experience is crucial to the development of strong teams:

“Team depth strengthens organisational resilience, drives innovation and creates a positive culture – one that helps both companies and individuals.”

Across the whole group, we’re committed to helping each other grow and progress.

Have an eye for the detail

Personal success at handl Group is about more than listening to others and waiting for a chance. The more you develop your own expertise, the more chances you’ll have to build key skills that’ll help grow your career.

In their presentations, both Sarah and Leanne identified being on top of the detail as a key factor in their success. Whether it’s getting to grips with finances, managing IT transformations, or just taking responsibility for more areas of operations, showing an ability to understand the needs of group brands outside of your initial roles is always going to help you adapt, communicate, and solve problems.

And adaptable communicators and problem solvers are always in demand across every single business in the group.

Be flexible

Finally, if you’re looking to grow as a part of our group, you need to be flexible.

Greater flexibility helps you keep working towards your goals with informed decision-making and a clear vision, even as circumstances change.

Whether that’s flexibility in the form of Sarah juggling the demands of her family life and moving from maternity leave into a role with more leadership responsibility, or Leanne biting the bullet and growing her skillset by learning Proclaim development, having the ability to quickly make the most of new situations will help you succeed in any circumstance.

You choose what success looks like in your career. But as Leanne and Sarah show, if you’re thinking big, then you can achieve everything you set out to do – and a few things you didn’t – as part of handl Group.