I never dreamed that I'd be the first one," says Celia Jones as she thinks about being selected to participate in HSBC's group-wide secondment programme, "and I'm so excited!"

Mrs. Jones, office facilities manager in the Corporate Management division of Bank of Bermuda, is the first Bermuda-based employee to be chosen for the opportunity to work and receive extended training under the programme in an HSBC branch overseas.

Tomorrow night she leaves for the UK to join colleagues in the city of Sheffield, where she will be seconded for six months.

"I had expressed an interest in purchasing to my executive management after attending an HSBC course here in the summer," she says.

"I just thought that I'd train up further in that area here and then go back to focus on the Purchasing Department afterwards. What I'm about to go and do now is just so exciting."

Since receiving the news about being selected she has been preparing both her team and her family for her departure, and is looking forward to gaining new learning and experience over the next six months.

"I'm going to be trained up to purchase IT equipment for the bank and set purchasing strategy and see the whole purchasing cycle from start to finish; I'll be looking at developing contracts to ensure we're getting the right deals for each department," she says.

"There's a lot involved; by the time I'm done I'll be ready to come back and get the best value for the bank."

The programme is an exchange of sorts, since Nick Kennedy, purchasing manager, major products and development of HSBC Sheffield will come over to Bermuda for the same six-month period.

Mr. Kennedy will be centralising the purchasing function for Bank of Bermuda while he is here, as well as identifying cost savings in the area, in line with the bank's overall drive for greater operational efficiency.

For Mrs. Jones the secondment marks a major highlight in her career, which started back in the United States.

"I originally wanted to be an executive assistant and started out happily doing the secretarial thing," says the native New Yorker, who settled here in 1988 with her Bermudian husband Phil. "Eventually I realised I wanted to do more; I'm bossy and I like to manage things, I get the drive to do something and make changes all the time. So I thought about moving to management, and to do that I felt I had to get the degree."

She went on to attend La Guardia Community College and successfully earned a BA in Business Administration while working full-time.

Her first job in Bermuda was with the former insurance company Harnett & Richardson Ltd. as a claims specialist.

"No I didn't start off in banking!" she laughs. "It was a small company and after a while I was seeking something with more upward mobility.

"The bank offered some great opportunities, always has done really, and I joined what was the Department of Organisational Methods as a publications co-ordinator." That was 15 years ago and it was there that she first came into contact with the wide range of policy documents and procedure manuals produced internally which supported the bank's operations.

"We were responsible for putting (the content of) those publications together and eventually I moved on the bank's printing and stationery departments to actually produce them," says Mrs. Jones.

Her current position calls for running the day-to-day operations of both those departments, and doing a limited amount of purchasing for the areas. She says that her team produces the bulk of the bank's documents and printed materials internally, printing approximately 250,000 pages per month. Her drive for change has led her to make some adjustments in the departments, particularly in terms of the equipment.

"We had a good look at the procedures and processing involved in meeting the printing needs of the bank and the changing needs of the various departments, and I realised we had to change the equipment, we couldn't work with what was there," says Mrs. Jones. "It's important for staff to get the equipment necessary for them to meet the needs of the bank properly."

She credits her team with being "very supportive and able" as well as adjusting, like the rest of the bank's employees, to the changes brought about by the HSBC take over.

"We had a lot of communication with staff about that change and I think that people have adapted and are generally on board," she says.

She evidently took a very pragmatic approach to being part of a truly global organisation and, even prior to her selection as a secondee and in the shadow of impending redundancies and other rumoured cutbacks, apparently embraced the change.

"There's a variety of enhanced training opportunities available to staff at all levels now, we've got enhanced benefits like the lower interest mortgage and reduced credit card fees," she says. "For me personally I'd say it's been a positive change."

And she is already thinking about the benefits she hopes to bring back to Bermuda at the end of her secondment.

"I'm hoping to be able to come back and use purchasing strategy to minimise risk and increase efficiency in the purchasing process," she says. "I want to come back totally specialised in the field to assist all my internal clients and build on my good relationship with them, so that they can trust me to source the best equipment and materials for their needs.

"I also want to develop a good relationship with my colleagues over there," adds Mrs. Jones. "I'll be required to communicate with them regularly when I get back because we'll be part of HSBC's group purchasing function, so if someone requests say, a new laptop of a certain model, it'll be good to have them to compare notes with."

She admits it will be difficult to be away for such a long period of time from her husband and daughters - Vanessa, 19, a student at St. John's University in New York, and 12-year-old Alyssa who attends the Bermuda High School for Girls.

"But they've all encouraged me to go and they're very excited for me, and if it wasn't for my husband's support it would be tougher," she says. "I have to go though - it's a very good opportunity and I hope my children will see this and understand that we women can balance many things on our broad shoulders, it makes us stronger. And I'm the first one to go over, so I'm not going to mess up!"