A former South London schoolgirl who now works on Christmas advertising campaigns for M&S has credited an unexpected opportunity at school with helping her develop the confidence and skills to build a career with one of Britain’s best-known retailers.
At just 26, Cerys Roberts works in the M&S advertising team and says she has recently managed a Christmas campaign from start to finish.
Yet when she looks back at the experiences that helped prepare her for the responsibility, she points to her time as a teenage cadet in South London.
“CCF was the making of me,” she says. “It was never really about joining the Army for me. It was about building confidence, developing skills and pushing yourself in ways you might not otherwise.”
Cerys attended Wallington High School for Girls, where, at just 13, she was among the first girls given the chance to join the Army section of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF).
The opportunity came through a new partnership with Wilson’s School. Cerys was one of just 20 girls from Wallington High School for Girls to join, and for much of her time in the CCF, they were the only girls involved.
As she continued in the CCF, Cerys progressed through the ranks and eventually became a Colour Sergeant.
With that progression came opportunities to manage others, take responsibility and work through challenges. Those are the skills Cerys now credits with helping her navigate her career, even though the career she eventually chose was not the one she had first considered.
At one point, Cerys thought about joining the Army. Instead, she went on to study Politics at university, before beginning the search for a graduate job.
Getting a foot in the door was no simple matter. Cerys made 37 graduate scheme applications while looking for work, before eventually securing a place at M&S.
That step brought another unexpected turn. A chance placement in fashion marketing introduced her to a field she had not originally planned to enter and changed the direction of her career.
She now works in the retailer’s advertising team, helping to bring to life the Christmas campaigns that become part of the festive season for shoppers across the country.
Cerys says she has recently managed a Christmas campaign from beginning to end, taking on the kind of pressure and responsibility she believes her time in the CCF helped prepare her to handle.
Her journey connects two very different worlds: the Army section of a school cadet force in South London and the advertising team of a major British retailer.
For Cerys, however, the connection lies in the skills she developed while still at school.
Managing others, accepting responsibility and persevering when faced with challenges were all part of her experience as a cadet. She believes those lessons have continued to serve her as she has built a career in advertising.
Her story also challenges the assumption that young people join a cadet force solely because they intend to pursue a career in the Armed Forces.
Although Cerys initially considered that path, she ultimately entered a very different profession, applying the skills she developed through CCF to a career in marketing and advertising.
For her, the lasting value of the CCF was the opportunity to grow in confidence, develop new skills and push herself beyond what she might otherwise have tried.
From joining a group of just 20 girls at Wallington High School for Girls aged 13 to working on M&S’s Christmas advertising campaigns at 26, Cerys believes an opportunity she took as a teenager helped equip her for the working world.
And as M&S’s festive advertising takes centre stage, she continues to point to those early experiences in South London as an important part of how she got there.
