Mayo’s ‘Girl in the Office’ hits one-year milestone supporting contractors nationwide

A Lahardane-based entrepreneur is celebrating her first year in business after carving out a niche supporting contractors across the country.

Cheryl Naughton, trading as The Girl in the Office, launched her business on October 31 last year and has since built up a strong client base, with around 15 contractors availing of her services in the past 12 months. Eight of those remain regulars today.

Specialising in tackling the “chaos” of paperwork, timesheets and cashflow, Cheryl provides tailored administrative support that allows busy contractors to focus on their trade.

“It can take time at the beginning, but once the systems are in place, most contractors only need three or four hours of my support per week,” she explained.

For Cheryl, the reward is in making a real difference to her clients’ businesses. “The best part is when I get messages saying I’ve improved their cashflow or taken away stress.

A native of Maynooth, Cheryl moved to Lahardane in 2017 with her husband and four children.

Since then she has become an active member of the local community, helping to organise the Lahardane Fair Day in aid of Lahardane National School and managing the event’s website and social media.

Her work with The Girl in the Office is not just about providing ongoing support – she also empowers clients to manage systems themselves. “In a way, I work myself out of a job,” she admitted. “If I can set things up so efficiently that a client no longer needs me, that’s a win for them – and it frees me up to help someone else.”

Looking ahead, Cheryl hopes to expand her services further in her second year, with plans to return to procurement support for contractors whose day-to-day systems are now running smoothly.

More information about The Girl in the Office can be found at www.thegirlintheoffice.ie