Ashwood Gifts Ltd

"Personally I would suggest most people, let alone women, to avoid working at this organisation. Ashwood Gifts Ltd is run by a family of Christians from the Plymouth Brethren/Exclusive Brethren community, who are very insular as part of their core nature. Research the PBs before accepting a position in this organisation to check that you know what you're letting yourself in for. At the time I worked there, three women worked in the same office as me. The co-founder's sister showed plenty of signs of being unhappy; her aunt seemed to have resigned herself to being seen as a lesser person; one of the warehouse workers was the designated 'tea-lady'. Outside of the office I physically worked in there was also the younger co-founder's wife, with whom I had a limited amount of contact, who did not respond to my efforts to say hello and introduce myself but was very quick to point out any mistakes I made. Regarding mistakes, I started the job feeling confident that I would do well, however I received minimal training. At first I took this to mean that I was doing a good job, but later it became apparent that most of the workers in the office did not want to interact with me (as I said, the Plymouth Brethren are worth researching before you commit to a job like this. Notably, PBs tend to discourage one-another from talking to non-PBs. This extended to training me properly). There is more that I could say here. This workplace offers a budget for free lunches but refuse to sit with you at lunchtime; they are overall very sensitive to anything even vaguely approaching colourful language; communication within the organisation leaves a lot to be desired (especially for outsiders like me. I once received an Instant Message between two of Ashwood's family members talking negatively about me, and I although I reported this to the co-founders, the reaction and any kind of satisfying resolution was very much lacking. Plus, when I handed my notice in, I waited for the co-founder to inform the rest of the team. When this was not mentioned in any group email or team huddle I asked when he was going to announce my leaving to the group. He told me he already had. I'd simply been left out of it)."