McDowell Family Christmas Trees have adorned sitting rooms of Longford homes for many years

Meeting and engaging with people and building positive connections has been a cornerstone of Marie Needham's life and helped her to forge a successful career.

Marie, who was born and reared in Birmingham, England, now lives with her partner David McDowell and their family on their farm outside Newtownforbes.

She has had a hugely varied and fulfilling career to date where she has worked in retail, banking, revenue and payroll services and since in the Christmas family tree business and family farm.

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Marie attended University in London and she graduated with a degree in International Business and Law in 1997 and immediately after that she secured a job with Halifax Bank in Reading.

"Once I started there, the manager saw some potential in me, and he put me then onto a fast management programme.”

After a few years as a supervisor, Marie subsequently moved on from Halifax Bank to take up an assistant manager role with a bank in Henley-on-Thames.

Marie said after five years in banking she decided to move to Inland Revenue in the early 2000s where she worked as a compliance officer and would call out to companies and go through their books.

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"There was good camaraderie with my colleagues but I did not find it challenging enough," she added.

Marie subsequently accepted a managerial role with US company ADP Payroll Services just outside Central London and during this period she met her long-term partner, Newtownforbes native David McDowell.

"I was having to manage a team of maybe 10 or 12 people and they would be taking queries, and they'd have to come to me if there was an issue."

Marie and David eventually decided to move back to Newtownforbes in 2005 and she was fortunate enough to be able to take a career break from her job with ADP and she thoroughly enjoys living in the friendly village.

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"I definitely would have been hands-on when I moved over first and I would have been loading lorries, picking up trees, putting them in, but now physically I'm just involved in the retail side of things."

Marie said customer service is 'probably a common thread' in her working life.

"I did the retail and obviously, customer service would have been part of my role when I was working in the bank as well and the revenue to a degree.

"I definitely enjoy meeting and chatting to people and in relation to the Christmas trees, for example, that's probably where I have the majority of my engagement now.

"The best part of it for me would be actually meeting the customers in December, there are lots of customers that have been coming in for a long time and it's chatting to them and seeing how their year has gone, I get a lot of enjoyment from that.

"In many cases I would have seen their children grow up and they have little traditions that they do, and it's just nice to kind of be involved in that."

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Marie concentrates on the administrative side of the family Christmas tree and farming business from county Longford, while David focuses on the county Roscommon strand of their business.

She said there are  a "lot of different forms that need to be completed for revenue" and a lot of contact with accountants.

Marie said she is lucky she can take time to do the school runs and structure her day.

The day prior to this interview Marie had been biking and on the day of interview, she was completing paperwork and 'getting things in order'.

"I'm fortunate insofar as I would have envisaged  myself having a nine to five job like the majority of people do whereas now I can pick and choose the hours that I work so it's just a balancing act."

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