Anna-Louise is Personal Assistant of the Year 2004

Pollyanna’s daughter Anna-Louise is delighted to have been honoured with title of ‘Personal Assistant of the Year 2004’. The office machine manufacturers Brother, in association with OS magazine held the nation-wide search for ‘The most hardworking PA in the country’ .

The judging panel were impressed with the diversity of Anna-Louise’s work, which includes not only the everyday duties of most P.A.’s – booking hotels, organising the diaries, answering mail etc. – but also organising Pollyanna’s working trips. Anna-Louise has had to arrange transport by husky dog team in the arctic, kayak in the rain forest, and rickshaw in China, and book accommodation with a Count in Transylvania, in a Maharaja’s palace in India and even an Igloo in the High Arctic. As well as organising exhibitions, talks, celebrity launches and events Anna-Louise has been asked to research the best place to find adders for Pollyanna to sketch in the wild, and to transport a bucket of toads to Birmingham to film a segment for This Morning. The judges felt her work highlighted the need for Personal Assistants to be dedicated, creative and resourceful.

After leaving school Anna-Louise worked with a theatrical production company in London, where she helped to stage a variety of shows. At the time the company went bankrupt, Pollyanna’s previous personal assistant had just left to start her own business, and Anna-Louise offered to ‘fill in’ temporarily, until a replacement could be found. Howvever within a matter of weeks she found herself completely immersed in the business, and thoroughly enjoying the challenge of the job – and to the surprise of both decided to stay on full time.

Anna-Louise says that she feels incredibly fortunate to have a job which is constantly challenging and interesting, but which has also given her the opportunity to develop her own work as a photographer and writer. Anna-Louise was previously a finalist in the Cosmopolitan Woman of Achievement Awards for her work on the book ‘Giant Pandas and Sleeping Dragons’.

In addition to the title and trophy, Anna-Louise will also receive a luxurious spa weekend at Seaham Hall – voted the world’s best spa for style by the Sunday Times travel magazine.