Meet the team – Heather Flatley
Heathers sparkling personality brings a smile to everyone’s face, both staff and customers, on a daily basis. Beyond her role as Credit Control at Russwood, she is a family woman, with a love of the outdoors and deep-rooted connection to Newtonmore. Marketing Executive, Amy Conboy, sat down with Heather to find out more.
From Saudi to Scotland
Born in sunny Saudi Arabia, Heather swapped the desert for pine forests when she moved to Scotland at the age of 6. She grew up in the town of Carnoustie, but her family are rooted in Newtonmore. She spent her childhood summers exploring Nuide Farm, which was managed by her grandparents. Her family run the popular truck stop, The Grill – a local legend! Heather has 2 sons: Tommy & Fraser. Eager to raise her boys in a beautiful, safe place with family nearby, Heather moved to Newtonmore in 2011. She started work at Russwood the very next day!
Career progression
Heather studied BA Law at Edinburgh Napier University and graduated in 2001 with a month-old Tommy in her arms. Since then, she has had a colourful career from legal secretary to clerical assistant at the Scottish Police. Now, she is a key member of the Russwood finance team, making sure all invoices are paid on time, checking company credit ratings and setting up credit accounts. If you’ve bought something from Russwood, chances are you’ve chatted with Heather.
When Heather first started, she helped set up our ISO and FSC accounts, which are integral to the running of Russwood today. Always ready to lend a helping hand, Heather has been known to cover Haulage and Reception too. Heather tells me she enjoys working in a friendly office, with a great team, in a beautiful location. Heather lives close by and jokes a highlight of her working day is there is never a traffic jam on the way to work!
Family life
Shortly after moving to Newtonmore, Heather met her partner, Sean. 2024 has been a milestone year for the couple, who got married in the summer at the beautiful Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry. Heather’s boys are now grown; Tommy is an engineer and Fraser is a joiner with local contractors CR Construction. Fraser is regularly on site at Russwood installing our latest cladding, decking and flooring products to our display areas.
Out of office
When she’s not working Heather likes to keep active and spend time outdoors. She enjoys hill walking, kayaking and camping at the weekends with Sean, and even take their dog Ruby along on some trips! After an active day, Heather loves getting glammed up for a cocktail or 2 with the girls, and you can almost guarantee she’ll be the one head to toe in sparkles at the Christmas party!
We are always keen to hear from people who are interested in working at Russwood both in our yard and office teams. Available positions and details of how to apply speculatively can be found on our careers page.