Director:Phyllida Lloyd

From Time Out London
The calculation is fairly obvious: you’re doing a film about Margaret Thatcher, a huge figure, so you need an actress who can deliver on that scale. The imperious Meryl Streep seems like an apt choice. When she talks, men listen, and she’s always excelled at portraying women who know their own worth. Who better, then, to take on Britain’s most divisive post-war Prime Minister, a woman who remodelled the political landscape and was both lionised and reviled for doing so?

Much as you can argue the case for Streep, it’s a casting decision which brings its own problems. We expect a biopic of Maggie, but what we get is a showcase for Streep’s impersonation of her. It’s an impersonation startling in its bravura technique – and doubtless bound for awards season garlands – yet which essentially boils down to Streep doing another of her amazing turns. When that collides with one’s own strongly defined perceptions of a real-life figure (frankly, dear reader, the very thought of her still makes my blood boil), there’s trouble ahead.

Abi Morgan’s screenplay bravely grounds the whole story in a portrait of a retired Lady T in her dotage. The idea, presumably, is to settle the audience by humanising the old battleaxe before we flit back and forth to the more contentious political material. This is effective to a certain extent, since Streep’s work stands on its own here and is more humanely engaging for it, even if the material bristles with a self-conscious naughtiness about presenting its subject as Lady Gaga and giving her a dead Denis Thatcher to talk to. Jim Broadbent is predictably marvellous here, self-effacing yet somehow twinkly, though most touching of all is Olivia Colman as daughter Carol, displaying deep affection for a mum far too self-involved to give anything back. And yet, having softened us up with this study of the lioness in winter, Morgan disappoints by not going that far with it, missing the opportunity to get much dramatic traction from Thatcher rethinking her achievements in hindsight. Certainly, there’s a sense that the bullish determination which made her a political titan later rather isolated her – even within her own family – yet this emotional candour isn’t matched by the film’s take on her career trajectory, which succumbs too easily to knockabout and thus fails to point up its occasional attempted criticisms of its subject’s narrow-minded intransigence.

Asking us to accept the young Thatcher as a class warrior and proto-feminist cutting a swathe through the Etonian ranks of the Tory hierarchy succeeds for a while as a jolly provocation, yet asking us to hold that thought when she reaches Number 10 comes across as dangerously indulgent. The make-up and hair department work overtime to crimp and shape the likes of Richard E Grant as Michael Heseltine and Anthony Head as Geoffrey Howe into semi-recognisable versions of the grandees of yore, yet everyone seems to be channelling ‘Spitting Image’ japery here, which proves counter-productive and facile in the circumstances. Taking on too much history without the running-time to do it justice is the undoing of director Phyllida Lloyd (who directed Streep in ‘Mamma Mia!’ in 2008), and the closer Streep gets to grandstanding high comedy (in the cut and thrust of PM’s questions, for instance) the more credibility is sacrificed for glib short-term impact.

Yes, there’s some acting to admire here, and you have to give the whole production credit for having the balls to take this on in the first place, yet the lack of a clear controlling vision deprives the drama of genuine cumulative impact. Streep’s Mrs T is at various times an ambitious Tory firebrand, a leader who makes the tough decisions Britain needs, an aloof egomaniac, a doddery old dear. The film’s often for, sometimes against, ultimately a bit wishy-washy. Certainly, it’s worth seeing and arguing over, but my personal take on Thatcher remains unchanged, Streep’s virtuoso ministrations notwithstanding.

Author:Trevor Johnston

Time Out London Issue 2159: 5 – 11 Jan, 2011

January 29 2012 sees the celebrations to welcome in the Year of the Dragon take place in Chinatown and Shaftesbury Avenue (central London’s big event traditionally takes place on the first Sunday after the official start of the Chinese New Year, which in 2012 is on January 23). Festivities begin at 10.15am with a parade of colourful floats from Trafalgar Square to Rupert Street. At noon, Boris Johnson and Chinatown president Stanley Tse commence the Dotting of the Eye ceremony, kickstarting an afternoon of performances featuring music, dance, Chinese dragons, lions and acrobatics. The show culminates in a fireworks display at 5.40pm. Chinatown will be filled with cultural and food stalls and displays all day.

The company is going through a period of great change and so this role will become a busy and vital support system for both directors to assist with multiple projects that are currently underway.

This is currently a vacant post and so candidates are being seen for both contract and permanent roles.

SUMMARY OF DUTIES

* First point of contact for all incoming calls and correspondence.
* Diary management - arranging meetings/ conference calls and booking meeting rooms.
* Managing and organising regular meetings, collating and agreeing the agenda, ensuring following up in the required timescales.
* Email management - proactively assessing their emails, taking appropriate action, forwarding information as required and filing.
* Reports - typing reports, letters, minutes, agendas.
* Presentations - Preparing presentations (Powerpoint), collating information and pulling together reports in a timely manner.
* General administration - photocopying, scanning, binding documents, filing, expenses, payment of invoices, ordering equipment.
* Build, develop and manage relationships with all internal and external stakeholders.
* Travel arrangements - organising flights, hotels etc.
* Organising private arrangements as and when necessary.
* Maintaining contacts - ensuring contact details are kept up-to-date.
* Arranging corporate lunches and external events
* Covering for CEO and Group HR Director’s PAs when absent, as required.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED

* Experience of working in a similar senior level PA role.
* Must have an excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
* Flexibility - must be able to deal with different levels of workload and work longer hours when necessary.
* Advanced knowledge of Powerpoint. Strong knowledge of MS Word, Outlook and Excel.
* Must be able to self manage and prioritise own workload.
* Must have excellent written and oral communication skills.
* Must be a good team player but also want to work closely with one person.
* Must possess reasonable numeracy skills.
* Must want to get more involved and learn more about the Company.
* Must be able to use own initiative and must be able to work well under pressure.
* Must have a professional attitude and demonstrate great initiative and excellent organisational skills.

£33000-£38000 + benefits

Strong administrative and PA skills are required.

Ideally you will be of graduate calibre with a couple of year’s experience.

Duties will include:
- general PA duties
- diary management
- interview coordination
- travel arrangements
- presentations
- general office administration
- dealing with preferred supplier lists
- conference coordination

£24000-£28000

World renowned business based in the city is looking for a Training and Graduate Administrator to work with their Global HR team in supporting the recruitment and training of graduates to the business.

You will provide HR support with regard to all processes and plans, updating, maintaining and reporting.
Respond to queries - first point of contact
Have an understanding of qualifications, work permit regulations and requirements.
Book events at universities and be the face of the organisation on campus.
Carry out all HR admin support as necessary for the projects and managers; diary management, boking of venues, catering etc.
Carry out all basic liaison with academia and careers services as required (advertising, careers fairs, open days)
Coordinate training planning - Making all necessary arrangements for Grad and student inductions.
Handle applications, arrange interviews, assessment centres etc.
Liaise with internal mentors and managers to identify and plan placements.
Budget tracking and administration.

£25000- £30000

Requirements:
Minimum A Level standard or equivalent
Proven experience in either an HR recruitment or Graduate administrative role
PC literate with proven proficiency in MS Office including Excel and Project. Experience of using access databases would be ideal
Experience of using HR databases

You will be dealing with customers and suppliers on a day to day basis to ensure that all the equipment is ordered and delivered on site within the time frames specified.

Role and Responsibilities
1. Entering sales orders onto the system.
2. Assisting with box drop orders and service repair orders.
3. Liaising with suppliers on pricing, delivery, etc.
4. Liasing with Project Managers and working to deadlines.
5. Keeping track of orders and chasing up back orders.
6. Assisting with returns from projects back to the suppliers.
7. Other duties as and when required, including filing, answering the phone and general office duties.

Skills required
1. Good communication skills.
2. Previous purchasing experience.
3. Excellent organisation skills and the ability to prioritise work load.
4. Attention to detail.
5. Experience in office administration
6. Competent on excel

£18000-£23000

Strong administrative and PA skills are required.

Duties will include:
- general PA duties
- diary management
- interview coordination
- travel arrangements
- presentations
- general office administration
- dealing with preferred supplier lists
- conference coordination

* Arranging meetings and conference calls with UK and Europe via Outlook including inviting external guests and liaising with other Secretaries
* Diary management
* Organising travel itineraries and accommodation in UK and Europe.
* Fielding calls as appropriate; liaising with accountants, tax advisors and auditors.
* Preparing and amending PowerPoint presentations.
* Maintaining various Excel spreadsheets.
* Taking minutes at monthly tax meeting and weekly corporate streamlining meeting.
* Processing expenses.
* Maintaining contacts database.
* Assisting in day-to-day matters and giving general support where needed and on occasions to other team members.
* Audio typing and copy typing reports, documents and letters.
* Covering for other Secretaries when absent.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED

* Experience of working in a similar secretarial/admin role.
* Prior experience in a Finance/Tax environment would be advantageous.
* Must be able to use own initiative & anticipate/forward plan executives’ time.
* Must have an excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
* Flexibility - must be able to deal with different levels of workload.
* Must have advanced knowledge of MS Word, Outlook, Powerpoint and intermediate Excel.
* Must be able to self manage and prioritise own workload.
* Must have good written and oral communication skills.
* Must be a good team player.
* Must possess good numeracy skills.
* Must want to get more involved and learn more about the Company.

Your varied responsibilities will be to work as part of a Sales Support Team, working for the Sales Director, with regards to liasing with and quoting customers, loading sales orders, purchasing, logistics and payment chasing as well as being the first point of contact for incoming customer enquiries. In addition, the role will also require handling of Accounts Payable / Receivable tasks, working closely with the Finance Director.

The ideal candidate will have had experience in similar Support/Administrator position. Existing knowledge of the IT industry not essential although obviously beneficial. You will have excellent communication and organisational skills, be able to perform under pressure and have the capability to work on their own initiative or as part of team.

The successful applicant will be rewarded with an interesting and varied role within a flexible company and will have the opportunity to make a major impact on its ongoing success.

Salary circa £20k

The role will require someone who is happy to work on repetative tasks and someone who would gain satisfaction from seeing a task through to completion. Although this is a database role, you will be required to have a lot of interaction on the telephone and via email and so you will need to be eloquent and have a high level of written English.

You will be contacting people of different cultures and foreign language speakers so diplomacy and understanding is required.

The role is initally for 3 months and will be ideal for someone lokoing for a short-term role to keep them busy over the Christmas period! Please see below for job description.

Database Administration
* Working across numerous systems.
* Cleaning and updating member contact details - individuals and organisations.
* Undertaking research projects to verify existing contact details and/or to find out new contact details (involving web research and extensive emailing and telephone calling)
* Working with data from multiple sources, including detailed work with Excel spreadsheets
* Logging and investigating email undeliverables, and updating email address details wherever possible
* Investigating/correcting basic data irregularities (spelling, address format etc)
* Actioning telephone calls/emails requesting data changes
* List checking/matching/de-duplicating
* Data entry/cleaning tasks as required
* Ad-hoc database projects

Competencies/Skills
Essential
* Must have some database/excel experience, although full training will be given
* Excellent attention to detail, especially accurate data entry skills
* The ability to multi-task and maintain a high standard of work whilst doing repetitive tasks
* Excellent desktop/IT skills - particularly MS Excel, Word and Outlook
* Good communicator - both verbal and written. Confident in dealing with a variety of people, including senior executives
* Self motivated
* Good telephone manner

Desirable
* Experience of dealing with international customers would be an advantage
* Experience working in the mobile telecoms or other ICT sectors is an advantage - but not essential
* Basic knowledge of data protection issues would also be advantageous

£10 - £11 per hour