Michael Volkmer, our Senior Commercial Manager/Company Secretary joined Ascent right back near its inception in 2008. Here he tells us how the business has changed and why he still enjoys being part of the team.
After graduating with a master’s in civil engineering, I worked in a civil engineering consultancy firm and became their senior internal auditor, working also in the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) sector. From there I joined EY’s project finance team, an offshoot of corporate finance, specialising in PFIs in a nationwide team.
I joined Ascent in 2008, thinking it would be a three-year role to develop and sign some PFIs. How wrong I was! Life as a consultant in a Big 4 is not easy, and we had just had our son, so I decided to choose a different career path (for a while at least). From meeting Hayley Vince (our People & Culture Director) and first interview, I could tell the culture was different and I liked the idea of working in a small company, compared to a global advisory firm.
My role at Ascent is a great blend (subjective I know) of commercial, financial and now company secretarial work for the Board of Ascent. Three years was a big underestimation, and I never thought I’d see the start of a PFI and work on it until the end.
In the last few years we have seen recognition of our diligent services by our military customers, after initial contractual struggles. We are now confident that we are a mature and competent training services provider. To have achieved this from starting from scratch in 2008, is a big achievement and I’m very proud to have played a role in that.
While Ascent has grown to have over 420 employees, it is still small enough to feel like you make a difference. Being ‘central hub based’ I enjoy office-based days, being able to talk with others from all parts of the business and also the working from home days where I’ve got quieter time to absolutely focus on something.
Attending our various sites where we deliver training also provides great awareness and learning for me – as I do not have a military background – of the reality of providing military flying training services. I was part of Ascent’s Diversity and Inclusion team for a few years, facilitating various training workshops, which was also completely different from my day job and which was another learning experience. Overall Ascent’s culture, work life balance and respect are some of the reasons why I would recommend working for Ascent.
For anyone starting in a new job I would say go into the office as much as possible and build relationships with as many people as you can, not just your team. Watch how they do things. If you’re early in your career, learn from others and before you know it others will be learning from you. Be authentic as that comes across best, even though your role models may do it differently. The more you push yourself the more satisfaction you will get, but balance work with non-work life.
