I NEARLY joined Intasun when I left university in 1984 but went into the City instead on double the salary, which proves I can be bought at a price.
I received a good grounding in finance from Citibank, which is essential for anyone who aspires to running a business. The most exciting thing I did was getting back the $310m I had lent someone – lending is easy, it is the repayment side that is tricky.
I guessed that it probably wasn’t the career for me when I was told to make up my mind whether I wanted to be a banker or cricketer! I had assumed that one complimented the other but clearly not in their eyes so I chose another of my passions – skiing – and joined Airtours Holidays in 1988.
I cannot believe I got it wrong twice as the only skiing I do is to and from Helmshore.
My big break came in 1989 when I was asked to set up EuroSites. I soon discovered that what I knew about tour operating and camping in particular, could be written on the back of an envelope. We had recruited a camping specialist from a competitor to run the product side. After six months, he went through the male menopause and ran off with a 21-year-old overseas area manager, (I must admit that she was rather attractive), which left the rest of us holding the proverbial baby.
It was a pretty steep learning curve and you find out more about yourself and your colleagues in times of adversity. Sure, I made plenty of mistakes but if you stay within your comfort zone all of the time, then you will never innovate and develop. It is pretty dumb to make the same mistakes twice though.
I’m very proud to have been part of the team that has turned EuroSites into one of the best run and highly profitable camping operators.
In 1997 I was headhunted for my dream job. Manchester United wanted me as its financial director. At this time I was just coming to terms with the fact it was going to be the only way of getting a game with the team I have followed across Europe. Unfortunately, they had assumed I was a qualified accountant whereas I just have the charisma of one – so I shall just have to dream.
Just before Christmas 1998 I was given two weeks notice that I was to take over as managing director of Tradewinds from my friend, Chris May, who was joining Sandals.
I’ve had so much fun this year working with a fantastic team in Tradewinds. We have expanded 40% and most of my time has been spent planning for the current and future expansion. Although I like to think I know how to run a business, I have so much to learn in terms of product, systems and contacts. It can be quite humbling when you haven’t grown up with a business and therefore do not know everything. However, I’ll get there.
Scheduled long haul is a growth area as customers demand more flexible holidays and are constantly looking for new, exciting destinations. As I spend most of my waking hours at work, it helps when you can identify with and aspire to the product that you are selling.
As well as being passionate about football, I am passionate about service and really want to offer our customers a memorable service. All reputable long-haul scheduled operators use the same high-quality airlines and hotel chains so the only difference is staff and the service they provide.
Tradewinds faces the same challenges all of us – finding enough good staff. The feedback I get the most is that once agents get through, the reservations staff are generally excellent but response times on the phone can be poor at busy times.
The vision I have is that agents’ phone calls are answered in six rings and they can get to speak to someone who has visited the property and resort to offer impartial advice on what is a very complex holiday.
In the last year, we have doubled the number of reservations staff to over 50 and it is still not enough to meet my vision so we will look to opening up another two call centres in the next six months. So, if anyone out there is looking for a fresh challenge, they know where to find me!