The role of personal assistant help

[PAwanted]

Can someone please tell me the role of a personal assistant? I work currently from home, and just wondered can they help me open a shop? Like contact interior designers etc

Yes definitely. A PA can help at home and business (either or both). At the higher echelons of society they'll basically do all your errands, deal with banking and sorting services out etc. The role is extremely varied.

You'll need to be open about your expectations and budget. There are plenty of companies that offer ad hoc admin support through to sourcing the right PA for you.

Yes. Manage the diary, book appointments, research projects & suppliers, assist with marketing & website etc etc are all things I've done as a PA. They don't do personal errands/stuff: like pick up dry cleaning etc (US bosses have that expectation, so personally I avoided those roles).

Definitely. A good PA should be able to tackle any organising task you have. Just be clear about what is expected of them and look for someone with wider experience, i.e. not just corporate or law, someone who's worked for an individual or a start up company may be more used to pitching in with absolutely everything (including Christmas shopping!)

My husband has separate people ping different roles but they could be combined in a smaller company. His executive PA is his ultimate line of defence. She does things like block spaces in his diary as protected time, makes decisions about diary conflicts, books overseas engagements and sorts arrangements, negotiating with host government. She makes sure all his personal mail is sent and sorted - birthday cards to staff from him, flowers for bereaved or seriously unwell staff. She prepares board report for him. She sends him all his papers for the week by courier. She manages his expenses. She arranged for his suitcase to be collected and transported and makes sure he has fresh shirts in the office. She also does the overlap between business and private life - private doctors appointments, checking dates with me, sorting supper arrangements if we are hosting.
His diary manager does what the name suggests plus books U.K. travel.
His office manager does the internal facing stuff. Sorting out other directors, sorting board meetings dealing with private office correspondence and making organisational decisions when my husband is away or wouldn’t want to be bothered with them.

Thank you for your replies, how much do you pay them and are they with you all the time?

My husbands in on about 49k, I think. She is based in his London office but contactable at all times by him (even weekends and evenings occasionally) but in return can decide to work from home or arrive late, if she wants. It’s a give and take arrangement.

If you are Essex based I can recommend someone