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I Work For... Jennie Roberts is PA to Richard Greenhalgh, Chairman of Unilever UK

"Who's Unilever?" That was the response you used to get years ago when you said where you worked. So you'd say: "Well, we own Birds Eye Wall's, and Lever Brothers. You know, Persil?" People would immediately recognise the names, but they had rarely heard of Unilever. Now the name is much better known, but Richard is keen to raise awareness of the company even more.

"Who's Unilever?" That was the response you used to get years ago when you said where you worked. So you'd say: "Well, we own Birds Eye Wall's, and Lever Brothers. You know, Persil?" People would immediately recognise the names, but they had rarely heard of Unilever. Now the name is much better known, but Richard is keen to raise awareness of the company even more.

He has already done a lot in his two years as UK chairman. He's brand-loyal and he often says to people: "Well of course you do use Unilever brands, don't you?" Recently he was at the Paris head office of the International Chamber of Commerce and he noticed they were using a different brand of tea. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he'd arranged for some of our Liptons Yellow Label to be shipped to them, and now they're using that.

He wouldn't have made a big thing of it, but I can just hear him saying jokingly: "Why are you using this awful tea when you could be drinking ours?" He's an enthusiastic person, and if he believes something is really good, he wants other people to enjoy it too. He has a way of talking people round so they believe it was their idea in the first place.

He's extremely enthusiastic about the job, too - he really threw himself into it. He's always telling me it's the best job he's ever had, and I must say, I think it's the best job I've ever had. Two years ago we worked together in international personnel - Richard was deputy personnel director - and he was offered UK chairman. It came as a surprise and it's fair to say it was quite a leap for both of us. The first three months were hard, when we were feeling our way, but since then it's been great.

It's the first time it's been a stand-alone position rather than one given to the chairman of one of the "Big Four" of our companies, Van den Berghs, Lever Brothers, Elida Fabergé or Birds Eye Wall's.

When Richard took up his position, we visited all the companies together, which was fascinating. It was so useful for getting to know the staff and companies, and for letting them get to know Richard. He's a team player and he likes people to get involved, and to move between functions to get a broader picture of the company. He's going to be work-shadowing someone in the pensions department for half a day soon, and he hopes others will follow suit.

He doesn't want to be seen as the aloof chairman. He quite often goes for a drink in our wine bar downstairs and chats to colleagues over a drink. He also walks off around the departments to see what people are up to. If he's got a spare moment he'll say: "Jennie, get so-and-so to pop in for a quick chat."

I like to get involved in staff matters, too. For 12 years I've been chairman of the consultative committee, which looks after the employees. We discuss everything from the roast potatoes in the restaurant, to company reorganisations. We've made some significant changes, like doing away with the management and non-management layers in our healthcare scheme, so now it's the same for everybody. I like to feel we're actually doing something to help employees.

Unilever is also involved in the wider community, with projects such as the East London Schools Initiative. Richard is a mentor to the headteacher of a primary school in Tower Hamlets, which we work with in partnership. Several of our staff work as mentors with headteachers in seven local schools, and others go into schools during lunch-hours to listen to children read or help with maths. I'll be working with a special needs child later in the year. Richard has now been asked to be part-time chairman of the National College for School Leadership, a college set up by the Department for Education and Employment, to raise the quality of headteachers. He's very keen and wants it to be a strong support for headteachers.

Richard gets involved in several Unilever projects, like the Unilever Series at Tate Modern. The first commission in this five-year sponsorship is Louise Bourgeois' spider and tower sculptures. Richard's wife is an artist and they're both keen on art. He's also passionate about opera. I think he particularly likes Wagner, but I must admit I glaze over a bit when he talks about it. He keeps telling me he's going to educate me one day. Well, he will probably have plenty of time, I don't intend to go anywhere now.

There's always a turnover of younger people in the company, as you'd expect, but there are a lot of people who come to Unilever and stay for ages. Look at me - I came for two years and 20 years later I'm still here. It's that kind of place.