"When I wanted to step up into my first director role. I started to look around when I was at Matalan, after Northern Foods, and that was the first time I felt I was coming up against a ceiling. It’s hard to get that first break because there’s a pool of people around that have already done it. When you’ve not held that role, but you’ve got all the experience and skills, it’s hard to be able to convince people that you’re capable of it if you don’t have the title."