What do you do here at Gorkana? I'm one of the five Group Account Directors within the insight and Analytics team. This role is mainly two parts - managing the commercial relationships for a portfolio of about 65 clients and developing new insight products to bring to market.

What do you enjoy most about your job? The best thing is the team, both in terms of my direct team and the wider sector team. Most of us have worked together for a long time now and it is a great atmosphere to come into. Both elements of the role have their challenges and rewards. The client relationship side involves lots of face to face meetings and it gives you a great chance to meet the leaders from companies across the world. The insight work builds on the offerings we already have and pushes us to investigate bigger and better solutions for our clients and industry.

What is the best perk about working here? Probably the opportunity to meet lots of different people, both within the business and on the client side. The benefits package is pretty good too.

What training and development have you had at Gorkana Group? I can't imagine many companies do training better. I'm a huge fan of the induction programme - the 4 weeks of intensive training with different members of the team doing actual work - it really sets you up with a strong understanding of both the company and the role. On top of this there is an on-going array of internal training, plus intermittent workshops with expert external training firms. These specific sessions really fit your role.

How have you progressed your career so far within the company? In almost six years with the company I have worked my way through from an entry level role as a Trainee Account Executive at Metrica. The experience along the way has been invaluable, having started by writing the reports and managing the analyst team. This gave me a really good foundation in the day to day tasks required to produce the end product for the client. As Account Manager I developed my client facing and project management capabilities across a range of accounts, which lead into the Account Director role, where the focus is on the management of a team and ownership of the senior client relationships.

One of the best things is that the role has also evolved and created an opportunity to progress within it, as we develop new products and look for better ways to support our clients. One of my favourite moments was the day we launched the Retail Barometer. It was really satisfying to create something brand new.

What do you do here at Gorkana? I manage a portfolio of client accounts within the PR agency sector. My day-to-day activities revolve around making sure all of my customers are completely happy with the Gorkana Media Database service, but also making sure that they are aware of all the other services we offer. The thrust of my role is about getting out of the office, meeting my clients, listening to their needs and supporting them.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Being out and about (usually every day of the week), getting in front of clients, and understanding what makes them tick. Working with a client base spanning the spectrum of trendy consumer agencies to slick financial communications houses, I get to meet a lot of different personalities. I really enjoy the challenge of working out how our Group can best deliver solutions for each company and its individuals. On the occasions when I am back in the office I am surrounded by a friendly, dynamic, group of people, who all do their absolute upmost to help me fully support the needs of my clients.

What's the best perk of working here? The Gorkana Group Benefit Scheme is really competitive. The company shows a real willingness to support its employees, and perks such as a travel loan for my Oyster card really go a long way. When the outlook for the general economy is fairly gloomy, it says a lot about the Group, that they continue to invest in our well-being. Having one of London's best outdoor food markets on your doorstep isn't bad either!

What training and development have you had at Gorkana Group? As well as training on the job from all sorts of bright people across the Group, I've had a number of more formal sessions in the last few years. A recent workshop on sales and objection handling has really helped me improve my understanding of client needs. The workshop ran across 2 full days, and the sessions have definitely instilled a greater confidence and clarity in how I approach my day to day conversations with clients.

How have you progressed your career so far within the company? Well, I started out fresh from University, joining the research teams at Gorkana. Internally we call this team the ?news-team? as a lot of what you do revolves around contacting journalists, building relationships with key people within the industry. Rather than being treated like a ?data-monkey?, I was actively encouraged by the Directors of the company to go above and beyond in my role - for example, taking journalists for coffee (or even lunch), all in the name of building close ties with the journalist community.

During that time, I was taken out by members of the Account Management team to meet our clients, and I became more and more enraptured by that part of the service. The team seemed to recognise that I had an aptitude for engaging with our clients face to face, and eventually I was offered a chance to interview for the role. This was after just 10 months within the company, so I was really chuffed when they offered me the job. I've now been in the team for just over 2 years, and currently manage relations with all of our senior PR agency clients.

What do you do here at Gorkana? I work for the monitoring side of the business as a Senior Client Service Executive. I am the day-to-day contact for a portfolio of clients made up of a selection of the top 150 PR agencies. My main responsibilities are managing and maintaining the client relationship and ensuring their monitoring and social media services are meeting their current needs. In addition to this I have a number of internal responsibilities as a SCSE. I am a mentor for two people on my team, encouraging their development within the company and ensuring they hit our targets. The agency team is made up of a team of ten people and I am a point of contact for escalation and support.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Aside from the great team of people that I work with I would have to say I enjoy the supervisory part of my role the most. I like having the responsibility of guiding and encouraging team members to reach our targets and being their point of contact. I also enjoy the problem solving aspect of my role, being able to solve a customer's query and providing them with excellent customer service is very satisfying.

What's the best perk of working here? One of the best perks of working at the Gorkana Group is the new benefits package that has been introduced. This includes subsidised gym membership, Taste Card discount and Dental & Health insurance. There is also a good refer a friend recruitment scheme in place.

What training and development have you had at Gorkana Group? There is continuous training and development offered at the company as we are constantly upgrading our services. I have also completed my first level of Six Sigma training courtesy of the company. This has helped me develop a more process driven approach to my work.

How have you progressed your career so far within the company? I started in 2009 as a Client Service Executive on the monitoring side of the business working in the Charities & Utilities sector. After three months I transferred to work with the Retail & Finance sector, developing my portfolio and managing the likes of Estee Lauder, RBS, Co-operative Group and House of Fraser. I progressed to a Senior level in just under one year of being with the company. I now work within the PR Agency team, managing a selection of the top 150 PR agencies including The Red Consultancy, McCann Erickson and ZPR.

Throughout my time at the company I have been lucky enough to have worked across all sectors of the business and have had the opportunity to progress in my career. These changes have provided me with fresh challenges and have developed a breadth of knowledge. I have a greater understanding of customer needs and how much these can vary.

What do you do here at Gorkana? I am the People Development Manager at Gorkana Group and responsible for the Learning and Development provision for all employees within the organisation. This includes designing learning experiences and delivering soft skills workshops, creating opportunities for people to grow and build a career, co-ordinate and run training modules that equip employees with the relevant skills for their role and evaluate our success within this remit. I also have the opportunity to be involved in and project manage a variety of HR initiatives.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Learning and development has always been a passion of mine and I really enjoy the designing and facilitation of workshops as it allows me to equip employees with the relevant skills as well as developing myself. Through my role I get to meet and collaborate with a diverse set of people within the organisation which is a great perk that I value.

What training and development have you had at Gorkana Group? I am a keen learner and have had the chance to attend some fantastic courses provided by the organisation. In particular, Brain Friendly Learning, Communications Mastery and NLP, all of which have developed my knowledge and built on the skills I need to carry out my current role.

How have you progressed your career so far within the company? I started working for Metrica ten years ago as an Admin Assistant, within three months of joining I was promoted to Office Manager. During my time in this role I embarked on a degree in Business Management and it was through my studies that I got interested in Human Resources. After three years as an Office Manager and the completion of my degree I moved into an HR Manager role. I worked in this role until Metrica was bought and the HR team for Gorkana Group was formed. This is when I took on the People Development Manager, which felt like a natural move for me.

What do you do here at Gorkana? I work on the Consumer Magazine Team on the Dayshift Reading Floor. I've held this position for the last four and a half years now. I'm lucky to be working on a good team with fun colleagues.

What do you enjoy most about your job? The variety of our magazines makes my job enjoyable. I can start my day going through the golf magazines picking up tips to improve my handicap, then move onto Patchwork and Quilting, so on a daily basis, we read magazines that really do cover the entire spectrum. I do feel that this keep the job fresh and interesting. The task stays the same, but the subject matter is continually changing.

What's the best perk of working here? The best perk for me would have to be the Interest free Travel Loan. It saves so much hassle as well as a fair bit of money. The subsidised canteen is also a big perk. I don't make use of the subsidised gym membership but I'm happy to know that it's there if I choose to use it.

What training and development have you had at Gorkana Group? We have our initial training to get us up to speed. It is then up to us to develop and work on our own technique, what works for us, in order to achieve the best results. We will be able to enrol on a speed reading course soon, which will add a different quality and style to our technique on the Magazine team.

How have you progressed your career so far within the company? My job seems to progress all the time. We regularly have to adapt to customer demands and quirks in order to achieve the best results possible. Again, this is what keeps the job fresh and interesting. I like being kept on my toes and that is definitely the case on the Magazine team. Our standards are high so we have to progress and adapt accordingly, in some cases to individual client needs, for example time constraints or specific instructions.

If you were a magazine, what would you be? If I were a magazine I think I would be Rolling Stone magazine. Only because I murder Brown Sugar on Karaoke!