Meet Elly Johnston

Hear from Elly Johnston, Programme Manager for our new St Edmunds Distribution Centre; as she tells us about her Greene King career journey, what it’s like working in the world of supply chain and how it feels to be nominated by Greene Sky as someone who has had great success at work…

Elly tell us a little bit about yourself…

I've just celebrated my 28th birthday in Cyprus with my family celebrating in the sun. I enjoy swimming and I have been a swimming instructor for over 15 years. I have often moved a lot with work, so I have been fortunate enough to teach in lots of places. When the weather is nice, I like camping and exploring new places with aspirations of converting a camper van one day! When the weather isn’t nice, I enjoy arts and crafts. I am in the process of buying a renovation project house so I think most of my weekends will be taken up with plastering and painting!

I am relatively new to Greene King as I joined at the beginning of January. I left the automotive industry after working for Volkswagen, BMW, Volta Trucks (Electric Vehicle start-up) and Aston Martin as I wanted to gain an insight into other industries and apply my learning of lean six-sigma and operational excellence to new environments.

Talk to us about your Greene King career journey so far

Joining Greene King has been a fantastic experience so far, the culture is very inclusive, and people are very welcoming creating a good environment for the exciting changes the business is currently going through.

So far, I have worked on several continuous improvement projects across the distribution network, focusing on planning and developing GKLE (Greene King Logistics Excellence) a set of strategic goals to help drive the business forward with a goal of operational excellence.

I am also currently leading the launch of the new St Edmunds Depot in Suffolk Park which is exciting to be part of a key change in the network.

I have recently joined the Greene Sky committee as Building Career Confidence pillar lead to help shape career development in Greene King. I am very passionate about this as I am very driven and enjoy supporting other to achieve their aspirations. The automotive industry has shown me the best and worst of inclusive working environments and I want to bring my previous experience across to Greene King to support their progression in career development.

What is it like working in the world of Supply Chain?

Supply chain, is an exciting department to work in as you get full understanding of a products journey and see the complexities of the environment and how this is managed from raw material through to order fulfilment. In previous roles, this has enabled me to understand the complete journey from a car being developed, ordered, built, and delivered to customers. A lot of this knowledge transfers over into my role in Greene King, however I am enjoying actively learning this new industry and the differences it holds.

The environment is constantly changing in supply chain, especially with the new St Edmunds Depot and Brewery opening which provides lots of opportunities for improvement and establishing different ways of working.

Supply chain is traditionally a male dominated environment, and it is exciting to see over the years of my career how this is changing, and I am proud to be a part of that.

What are your current priorities in your role?

The successful opening and transfer to St Edmunds distribution centre in Suffolk Park. This is a huge cross functional project supported by many departments in the business, and I will take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support.

Alongside this, strategically developing the network and integrating continuous improvement projects to develop operations and Greene King’s ways of working.

Our B&B Greene Sky nominated you to tell your story as a successful woman at work, how does that feel?

I love reading and learning about other women’s career journeys, it makes me proud to be recognised as an advocate of a successful woman at work. I am happy to have the opportunity to shine some light on my career path so far, and hopefully I have been able to provide an insight into the world of supply chain!

I am looking forward to working with women across the business to support career development, please reach out if you would like to get involved.