Bravissimo Ltd reviews

Where to start? My colleagues and line managers were fantastic, but beyond that, the experience at Bravissimo was horrible. When I was taken on, my hours were agreed upon; we were told 6 months later that they would be changed according to a five year plan which was actually put in place around the time I started - so they knew I would be tied into working later but weren't transparent. The changes meant I could not have meals with my family, was travelling for longer periods, and struggled to swap shifts and book holidays. I was also blocked from moving departments on at least two occasions. From then on, it became clear that this business was only celebrating women in the interest of money. The women that actually worked for and lived/breathed Bravissimo were completely disregarded. Overtime wasn't paid, instead awarded as a holiday in lieu. We were required to do this overtime over the summer mostly, but the low staffing levels meant most people couldn't take any holiday they accrued. The shift patterns weren't just late, they became ridiculous. I had to start working until 10pm, so there was no transport and I had to walk 45minutes home. Having to come back in at 9am the following day was a huge struggle, as was working six late shifts in one week. I was permanently exhausted, and my work/life balance went out the window. They could not retain enough staff, so we were constantly stretching our resources trying to train people, and cope with the extra work created by ridiculous marketing and management decisions (the CEO has a large hand in marketing decisions, so no surprises this went to hell). Having the CEO walk in and scream at the new CS manager (who was lovely and tried her hardest to ease the troubles we were going through) was ugly, to say the least. This was a common trend within the marketing team who had direct contact with her as well. No career progression, a lot of skill expected but with little proper training or reimbursement. The responsibility of training new starters often fell on the other consultants around them, which was not good considering the workload and lack of resources. Changes pushed through by CEO were rushed and incomplete, so that the website issues, removal of fitting information, the outright lie of the delivery turn around times, and the fact that people didn't get charged for orders until despatch - all those problems and more fell onto our shoulders, and feedback ignored. No reward or acknowledgement of this higher workload; just more responsibility. The only reason I received a pay rise was due to an 'accident'; this was promised in error to another member of staff who served less time than me, and so I had one honoured as well - but it wasn't given due to my hard work or accomplishments. Little flexibility given, lots of expectation. In other words, a horrendous grind of a job that will kill you in the end. I left feeling uncelebrated, the antithesis of the company values.