Outage planner at Northvale Electricity Networks
About 60 minutes. Included in Plus.
A failing transformer must be swapped by crane before winter, with 2,168 customers kept on supply through a neighbouring feeder that can carry only so much. Find a window the load allows, look after the people who depend on medical equipment, and replan when a pre-check cuts the backfeed.
Skills: Read demand profiles against network capacity; Choose a work window within safety and field rules; Plan support for customers who depend on medical equipment; Replan quickly and within authority when capacity changes
Management consultant at Larkspur Partners
About 85 minutes. Included in Plus.
A client's finance director has told his board that closing a depot will save 3.04 million pounds a year. Rebuild the savings from the client's own data, tell the steering committee the true number in a deck, and correct it again when a depot manager's figure turns out to be wrong.
Skills: Separate costs that end from costs that move; Build a savings and payback model from client data; Present an unwelcome number answer first; Handle a client sponsor's expectations with evidence; Revise analysis openly when data changes
Supply planner at Thornbury Kitchenware
About 70 minutes. Included in Plus.
The lead time from Portugal has jumped from six weeks to nine, and the best seller has a big promotion before Christmas. Project the stock, recommend what to do with the costs, and help sales tell the biggest customer the truth.
Skills: Project stock week by week and find a shortfall; Compare supply options on cost, timing and risk; Request approval within purchasing limits; Support honest customer commitments with numbers
Brand manager, licensing at Maple and Moss Foods
About 70 minutes. Included in Plus.
A licensing partner wants its co-branded cereal bar pack approved before a printer's slot. The logo is too small, the partner's logo too big, the bar is short of fibre for its high fibre claim and short of granola for its made with claim. Review it, decide, and hold the claims when the launch date is used as pressure.
Skills: Review artwork against brand rules and a licence; Separate must fix items from advice; Check claims against evidence and a claims register; Give a partner clear, usable feedback under time pressure; Hold brand and legal standards against commercial pressure
Cover officer at Brookfield Academy
About 50 minutes. Included in Plus.
Three teachers are absent and the cover list must be on the staffroom screen by 08:30. Build it within the cover rules, tell the people affected, and deal with the change that comes at lunchtime.
Skills: Allocate cover within workload and safety rules; Weigh a department's priority against the policy; Tell colleagues what has been arranged and what it risks; Choose between costed options when the day changes
Commercial property underwriter at Harrowby Mutual Insurance
About 75 minutes. Included in Plus.
A loyal cold store client wants to renew at last year's price with its sprinkler discount, but the survey found burning foam panels in the roof and the backup sprinkler pump has failed. Rate it by the guide, refer it, and hold firm terms with a broker who says a rival is waiting.
Skills: Rate a property risk by the underwriting guide; Recognise when a risk must be referred and why; Set conditions that address the main hazards; Hold terms with a broker while keeping the relationship; Explain a price change by the features of the risk
Duty operations controller at Skerry Air
About 80 minutes. Included in Plus.
Fog has held twelve morning flights and three crews whose duty limits are running out. Build a recovery plan that stays inside the limits without leaning on captains' discretion, look after the passengers, and replan when an island airport says it will close early.
Skills: Rebuild a flying programme within crew duty limits; Choose which service to protect when not all can run; Refuse to plan on discretion under pressure; Arrange passenger care and priority help through the right team; Replan quickly when a new constraint arrives
Investor relations manager at Thornbury Industrial plc
About 75 minutes. Included in Plus.
The internal profit forecast has slipped below what analysts expect, and the company is in its close period. Work out whether the gap triggers the disclosure committee, answer an analyst and a big shareholder without signalling anything, and act fast when the share price moves for no reason.
Skills: Calculate consensus by a defined method; Recognise when a forecast gap triggers disclosure governance; Decline investor requests in a close period without signalling; Spot signs of a leak and escalate at once; Prepare announcement questions and answers within published information
Fundraising officer at Kestrel Valley Wildlife Trust
About 75 minutes. Included in Plus.
Check two months of donations for the Gift Aid claim, then tell a major donor that the project she funded has been cancelled and give her a real choice, and report both to the fundraising committee.
Skills: Apply Gift Aid rules donation by donation; Handle restricted funds within charity rules; Give a major donor bad news and a real choice; Report figures and decisions to a committee
Customer services officer at Northbrook Borough Council
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
Fourteen missed bin reports after a breakdown and a short staffed route. Decide who gets a crew back under the policy, reply honestly to residents, and answer a councillor without promising special treatment.
Skills: Apply a published service policy case by case; Protect vulnerable residents through escalation; Reply to residents honestly without blame; Answer an elected member within the rules
Facilities helpdesk coordinator at Brightstone Property Services
About 50 minutes. Included in Plus.
Twelve requests after a wet weekend: a trapped person, a leak onto a desk, a stuck fire exit, cold offices and a few things that are not yours to fix. Triage them, get approval where you need it, and tell tenants the truth about who pays.
Skills: Prioritise building faults by risk and service level; Decide responsibility using lease clauses; Act on safety first and get approval for spending; Say no to a tenant politely and with the clause
Operations assistant at Millbrook Bakehouse
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
Work out the week's supplier order from the records and the rules, cover a barista shift without breaking the hours limit, then send the order and fix the rota so the week runs from the records.
Skills: Work out an order from records, rules and pack sizes; Read a lead time against a date; Find the cover that fits the rules, not the easiest one; Turn an approval into records other people run from
Housing officer, repairs at Calderbrook Homes
About 70 minutes. Included in Plus.
Twelve repair requests, a cold snap from Wednesday and a contractor who will soon be fully booked. Triage them under the policy, answer a resident who has been told the wrong thing, and get a decision on a roof above your limit.
Skills: Triage repairs by risk to the household under a policy; Keep repairs separate from rent arrears; Write to a resident honestly about a repeat problem; Request approval with options, costs and interim safety
Dispatcher at Lockgate Couriers
About 50 minutes. Included in Plus.
A van has broken down with nine parcels, including medicines, funeral flowers and lab samples. Reassign them within three drivers' hours, decide what moves to tomorrow, and keep the customers who will wait informed.
Skills: Reassign work by priority within time and hours limits; Weigh a cost against a service promise; Tell customers about delays early and honestly; Escalate what needs a manager's approval
Farm assistant, grain store at Hollins Farm Partnership
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
Eight lorries are booked for this week's wheat. Check every bin against the contract, decide what needs drying or checking and what that costs, and tell the merchant honestly what is coming.
Skills: Check stored grain against a contract on every measure; Spot a risk in a trend, not just a reading; Compare the cost of acting now with the cost later; Change bookings honestly within authority
Quality technician at Pennant Precision Components
About 75 minutes. Included in Plus.
A batch for the morning truck failed its final check on a machine that has just failed calibration. Decide what the results really show, contain the batch, and tell the customer the facts.
Skills: Interpret inspection data from a suspect measuring instrument; Hold product within quality authority under schedule pressure; Define a containment from in-process records; Write a factual nonconformance report and customer notification
Assistant store manager at Corner and Co
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
Four weeks of counts show stock missing on high value lines. Find what the paperwork explains, refer what it does not to the right people without pointing at anyone, and protect the shelf and the team.
Skills: Reconcile stock and separate paperwork errors from loss; Refer suspected theft with facts, not names; Act on loss within a spending limit; Talk to a worried colleague fairly
Nurse in charge, night shift at St Aldhelm's Hospital
About 54 minutes. Included in Plus.
A registered nurse has called in sick and a confused patient now needs someone with him all night. Work out what the ward needs, get cover through the escalation route, and allocate the night safely.
Skills: Calculate safe staffing from patients' care levels; Escalate a staffing gap in writing with SBAR; Allocate patients within load and competency limits; Plan for the time before cover arrives