meet the team

What_Willy_Team_Member_Simon

Simon Simons

Head of Social Media
Favourite Social Media:
Twitch
Proudest moment:
I once played Fortnite for 35 hours and had to wee in a bottle of Pepsi max and it wasn’t the size you get with a meal deal.
What do you think you bring to your role?
 I think I bring a fresh eye, I keep trying to get Willy to try out some new videogames so we can get him streaming but all he wants to do is cook and wear baggy trousers.
About me:

Simon is a little older than most social media managers but he has amassed over 800 followers on his personal Instagram page since setting it up last year, which he has told us is a pretty astonishing figure. We love having him around the office and he makes a mean Cortado, he learnt the recipe during his time spent in Vienna in the 40s.

What_Willy_Team_Member_Barry

Barry McChuggets

CEO/MD
Hobbies:
Truffle hunting in Quebec with my pet pig, Suzie. Trying the finest wines Mexico has to offer. I love to travel when I’m not busting my nuts off trying to get deals with supermarkets for Willy.
Proudest moment:
When I lifted the Tri-Wizard cup in my final year at Hogwarts.
About me:

Barry grew up in Oldham at the height of the 70s and developed a keen interest in pottery before deciding that wearing expensive suits and partying in toilet cubicles was more his thing. Since he joined the What Willy brand stocks have quadrupled and morale has mostly lowered. The workplace environment has become actually quite toxic and he’s not a very nice man.

What_Willy_Team_Member_Phillipa

Jane Shirley Bassey

Accounts
Favourite Number:
3, because it is a magic number.
Least favourite number:
666 because it is the number of the beast.
About me:

Jane grew up in Skegness and had a passion for mathematics from an early age. After reading a book about the Fibonacci sequence she decided that a career working with the beauty of mathematics was for her. She met Willy on a train to Birmingham as he struggled to add his change up to pay the conductor and their relationship involving numbers and that has grown ever since.

What_Willy_Team_Member_Clark

Clark Pieces

Head of New Business
Favourite Charity Gig:
LiveAid
Angriest You’ve Ever Been:
I was absolutely furious once when I was in the pub and this bloke tried to tell me he’d invented the idea of having a hollow handle on a milk bottle so that you’re holding a handle full of milk, I just knew he was lying. I really flipped my lid. I don’t know who invented it but this chappy had no teeth and I’m SURE that whoever invented that must be wealthy beyond there wildest dreams? Surely!
About me:

Clark is a man who could get on with anyone. He’s great with clients, he brings them in, he keeps them, he shows them a good time. He’s been to Center Parcs Woburn Forest more times with clients than he’s been with his wife and kids, he just loves it. He’s always the last man standing on a night out and he really helps the team to blossom with his can-do attitude.

What_Willy_Team_Member_Francine

Gwendoline Ruperts

Recipe Development
Favourite Meal:
Roasted Pheasant breast with a duck reduction, chanterelle mushroom croquette, beef foam, smoked truffle potato fondant and chive powder served with a pint of ice cold Mountain Dew.
Proudest Moment:
Every time Willy takes credit for all of the wonderful food ideas that I come up with it makes me feel really over the moon, how nice it is for a man to take all the credit for a lady’s hard work, it really, truly fills me with joy.
About me:

Gwendoline was born in Paris to wealthy parents but then decided to flee to London to escape their horrifyingly thoughtful and caring grip. She sofa surfed painfully for almost a week before getting a job as sous chef at a well known Mayfair restaurant run by a friend of her father. Working her way up to head chef over a period of three years she decided to leave after deciding that “the future of food is on Instagram because first we eat with our eyes”.

What_Willy_Team_Member_Laura

Laura LeFrube

Head of Cleanliness
Favourite song:
When I’m Cleaning Windows by George Formby
Favourite Guinness World Record:
I really liked it when that guy did the Great Wall of China on a space hopper, that one really made me laugh loads! How funny!
About me:

Laura’s background was originally in textiles but she struggled with a fear of corduroy and decided that “cleanliness is next to godliness”, she hasn’t looked back since and helps to keep all work surfaces squeaky clean at all times. In her spare time she’s learnt to play the viola.

What_Willy_Team_Member_Dog

Gareth Banghampton

chief of vibes
Favourite Food:
Cheesecake
Favourite Activity:
Being a right pesky little scamp around the workplace and generally improving everyone's day by bouncing around and trying not to urinate on people’s feet.
About me:

I pride myself on bringing joy to all of those around me, at all times. I’ve made it my personal mission to do this. There is very little else for me to do. I graduated from the University of Good Vibes in 2017 and went on to win Crufts the next two years in a row without an owner. I have been described as “the goodest boy” by many people with a lack of basic grammar skills. I live to bound around. Woof.