Sujata Gaikwad - Finance Analyst
I work in finance, in the transmission line of the business. I'm responsible for the substations maintenance spend at all of our sites across England and Wales. I work with the regional managers to make sure they meet their opex financial targets and work on the long term business planning as well.
National Grid's been brilliant - they supported me in funding my accountancy qualification. They funded the tuition fees, the revision fees, gave me time off to study for it so that's been excellent, now that I'm qualified. Also they run regular finance courses as well, run by an external party and very few companies do that on a regular basis.
The best thing about working in the National Grid environment is that the company is really accepting of different cultures and different backgrounds. For example I'm a Hindu and they had Diwali celebrations so accepting my beliefs and they do the same for other cultures as well. I really like the way they run lunchtime talks so it's basically people from different areas of the business, and they'll give a presentation on their area of the business. Because National Grid is so huge it's really brilliant having that as it helps you get a better understanding of such a vast business.
I joined National Grid five years ago and I've had four roles within that time, and each time it's been an upward move. It's the sort of place where if you've got the right attitude and you work hard you'll definitely be rewarded.