“I’ve had a lot of support from others”

Pru Orridge, 43, lives in Cardiff. She’s customs fraud lead in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, and the HMRC Race Network lead in Wales

“I was born and brought up in Tanzania and I came to Wales to finish my education in 1996. I joined HMRC as an administrative assistant in 2005 – never in a million years would I have thought I’d still be here 16 years later. But I worked with people I really admired and made good friends. When I started out it was all about admin tasks like filing and sending the brown envelopes people hate. But I was quickly promoted and I learned so much. In March 2021 I was promoted to my current role as customs fraud lead in the Fraud Investigation Service [FIS]. I only manage four people and we’re never going to be glamorous – there are no dawn raids or exciting seizures. The aim is for our team to use our knowledge to lead the FIS to serious customs fraud.

“I was lucky enough before the pandemic to be part of a team that travelled to Namibia, Madagascar and Tanzania to share how HMRC approaches customs risk. We were presenting to each country and listening to the experiences of their tax authorities. For me it was an amazing opportunity to see how our counterparts work.

“I’m also customs race lead in Wales. In the past couple of years I’ve really centred my attention on ensuring equality of opportunity for colleagues. In Cardiff we’ve set up mentoring, coaching and sponsorship with help from senior leaders. It’s about 20 per cent of my job and it’s completely changed my life. I’ve had a lot of support from others and I thought maybe I can support others.”