Every thriving community hub has that person — the one who somehow knows where everything is, fixes things before anyone notices they’re broken, and has a sixth sense for when something’s about to go wrong. At the Barking Enterprise Centre, that person is Donna Finley: Operations Director, founding team member, and unofficial guardian of the BEC realm.
After ten years of alarms, entrepreneurs, and unexpected plot twists, it seemed only right to sit down with Donna and ask the big question: How on earth have you survived this long?
Spoiler: with humour, grit, and a “just hand it here, I’ll sort it” energy that has become the unofficial BEC trademark.
From Corporate Banking to Community Chaos (and Loving It)
Long before she wore the BEC badge, Donna was already lurking around our building — in the best way possible. As part of her NatWest role, she ran start‑up workshops in the very same rooms she would later be responsible for opening, closing, heating, cooling, maintaining, troubleshooting, and occasionally sweet‑talking into functioning.
Then the banking world hit a period of dramatic change. While others saw uncertainty, Donna saw a door quietly sliding open with a sign that read: Fancy doing something meaningful? And through she went.
Day one at the BEC came with a plot twist she wasn’t expecting: no corporate handbook, no 50‑page SOPs, not even a “Welcome to the team!” PowerPoint. Just a new small organisation, a huge mission, big ideas and approximately three people to do all of it.
A lesser human might have panicked. Donna rolled up her sleeves and said, “Right then. What are we doing?
Alarms, Late Nights and the ‘Can‑Do’ That Became a Culture
If the BEC buildings could talk, they’d probably start by apologising to Donna. She’s taken middle of the night calls because the alarm decided to have an existential crisis at 2 am, she’s stayed behind until 10 pm locking up because someone called in sick.
She has weathered staffing shortages, leaking things, stuck things, noisy things, and at least one emergency that was “definitely not in the job description.”
Not to mention Karen’s ideas which normally end in building a balloon arch, painting a community centre, or creating the ultimate grazing board, pineapple butterflies will be a memorable moment!
Yet through all of this, Donna didn’t just cope — she set the tone. That roll‑your‑sleeves‑up, dive‑right‑in attitude is now woven into the BEC’s DNA. Even new staff quickly learn the rule: if Donna can deal with chaos with a smile, you can at least give it a go. One ethos they cannot shake is everything is done with the best of intentions and of course a heavy sprinkling of humour.
Every Batman Needs a Robin — Even If Robin Runs the Show Sometimes
At the centre of the BEC sitcom is the partnership between Donna and CEO Karen West‑Whylie. It’s a duo worthy of its own series: think Batman and Robin, if Robin was the one carrying the toolkit, checking the diary, and whispering “No, Karen, not that door” on the way into meetings.
Karen fondly calls her the “work wife” — a term that perfectly captures their dynamic, humour, and occasionally chaotic shared to‑do list. Together, they balance each other out: different strengths, different styles, same mission. Although they are adamant, they could win big on a Mrs and Mrs game show.
Ten years in, they’ve mastered the art of the double act. They probably communicate fluently via eye contact alone at this point, the look is all it takes and they are both on the same page it appears.
A Decade Down — And Still No Dull Days
When you ask Donna what keeps her going, she doesn’t mention the crises, or the challenges, or the nights she’s sprinted back to the building because an alarm was waking up half the neighbourhood.
She talks about the people, the community and the wider BEC Family, the entrepreneurs who walk in with an idea and walk out with a future.
The team that feels more like family (the functional, supportive kind — not the Christmas‑dinner‑argument kind). Where even the contractors know to pop in for a warm welcome a cuppa and a biscuit even when they are not working in the BEC.
Ten years of highs, lows, and everything in between — and she’s still here, sleeves rolled up, ready for whatever the next decade throws her way.
And let’s be honest: whatever it is, she’ll probably sort it before most of us have even noticed there is a problem!
END.
