CHANGING jobs, moving house and getting married are considered the three most stressful things we face in normal everyday life. So imagine what it must be like to change jobs and move house at the same time.
Add to that a relocation from one part of the country to another, away from friends, family and familiar surroundings, and you have the potential for one very stressed person.
Agreeing to relocate is a big decision for most people. For those with families, schooling is near the top of the list of issues to consider, along with the opportunities for a partner to get work.
Quality of life is also important. There is no point in going through massive upheaval to be worse off financially and socially at the end of the day.
For those going from north to south – as some staff from Glasgow-based Stakis Hotels will be doing following its acquisition by Hilton’s parent Ladbroke – the cost of housing is a major issue.
For travel staff on average pay, the extra salary offered for moving close to Watford, north of London, won’t go far towards buying a house that costs up to three times more.
Stakis head of communications Alex Pagett warned also of culture shock. “People in Scotland are more socially active; everyone in travel knows everyone else. Down south, you might not see the same person twice. It can be a lot more lonely.”
Moving from south to north is not necessarily easier. Ed Sims lived in Sussex when he worked for Unijet, but at the end of last year he upped sticks to join Airtours as sales, marketing and development director.
He thought he’d be able to buy a nice house in south Manchester, but when he arrived found house prices were higher than in the south.
As a result he had to look further north, to Lancashire, or trade down his quality of life, which he did not want to do.
“I have travelled reasonably extensively in the UK, but not in Lancashire so it was a bit of a journey into the unknown. I thought a long time about it, but it has been a series of pleasant surprises.
“People from the north are friendly, shopping is better value, the motorway network is very good and there are not so many cars.
A journey that took 90 mins in the south only takes 1hr here.”
Sims admitted the weather has been a shock. The rainfall figure is a staggering 52ins a year – twice that of the south and even more than he was used to growing up in north Wales.
Sims advised anyone faced with the choice of relocating for a new job or because of a buyout to be open-minded.
It’s a view shared by Best Western and Consort Hotels chief executive David Hayes, who will oversee Best Western’s move from Kingston, Surrey, to York following a merger of the two hotel groups.
He acknowledges it is really only something senior management will consider.
“Junior staff don’t want to move because career-wise it is not important for them, and their girlfriends or boyfriends won’t want to move,” he said.
“That creates a real problem for us in areas such as reservations where we will lose a lot of product knowledge.”
Senior management are already in York, staying in hotels until they buy property. Hayes said that is when they will notice the change.
But apart from the fact that the north is colder, it is far from negative, he added.
“York is very pleasant, there are lot of open spaces, the traffic is not so bad as in the south, property is cheaper and people are friendlier. And we are only 1hr 45mins from London by train.”