My Award Winning Night To Remember

After 26 years in the business this night was the highlight of my career, who would have thought it that on the 8th August 1988 at the age of 16 starting my first job in a local Travel Agency on a YTS scheme that my career would end up with one of the most prestigious awards in Travel 26 years later.

I look back now and have many wonderful memories . . After I completed my two years of training I moved to a multiple Agency  A.T.Mays where my new manager told me I was probably more suited to hairdressing. It was those words that encouraged my determination  and gave me my first Assistant Managers job at 19  followed by my first Managers job at 21. Its strange how I eventually became her manager in the end, oh that was a highlight believe me 😉

I lived near Bolton at the time and in 1996 with my passport in my hand moved from Lancashire to Yorkshire , family not happy but there you go, I left my Hot Pots behind for Yorkshire Puddings instead. I spent the next 17 years working for Going Places, specialising in cruise and wow what an industry to be in.  I have seen so many changes over the years but one that has surprised me more than anything has been the rapid increase of sales in the cruise market. After 17 years with a great company , I guess I needed a new challenge , a challenge where I could solely focus on cruise and to give customers a complete one to one service and working for Cruise.Co has given me that and so much more.

So why did I win the award , well I ask myself that question every day , but I guess the honest answer would have to be my passion for Customer Service and for Social Media. I used to be a Mystery Shopper going around different companies and marking them on their service , so I know customer service is lacking on the high street nowadays and that is why at cruise.co we all strive for the ultimate service to give our customers. Our Rate My Service comments are there because our customers have experienced great service and that will always continue.  I also work tirelessly on my Social Media sites . Social Media is the most powerful tool you can have in bringing you and your business to the outside world , Social Media isn’t just about how many Facebook likes you have or how many Google Plus followers you have, although still important, its about so much more than that.  Its about whether your websites are interesting and engaging , its about building trust with your viewers so to speak so people can believe in you and trust you and can feel the passion you have in your job. My Google Plus page (Google’s answer to Facebook) has around 6000 views a day now , more than Celebrity Cruises , Ncl cruise and P&O Cruises and that is something I am very proud of.

To win an award like this has been very overwhelming as I was completely convinced that the girl next door from Bolton (me) who loves to eat her pie on a barm and fish n chips would never have come this far. The night itself was a fabulous evening with the top names in travel, and with Paddy Mcguinness hosting the awards ceremony at the Lyceum Theatre in London then it was sure to be great. The Lyceum Theatre is the home of the Lion King and if you have ever seen the show then you can appreciate the theatre too. I have to say that when my name was called out I stood up and wanted to tell them they had made a mistake as I was so convinced I hadn’t won, but a hug and a kiss from Paddy himself brought me back down to reality.

The evening followed with the after awards party at the Savoy Hotel in London and what a venue, a stunning stunning Hotel where champagne flowed while a live band played songs of every era in the background, unfortunately that is where the evening ends as I basically don’t remember much else, and no it wasn’t because of too much champagne, honest, it was because the whole night was just a whirlwind.

I have got this far because of not only the team I work with from colleagues up to managers and directors but also because of my customers who have believed in me since day one. So I thank you and here is to another amazing year working at Cruise.Co.

Holly xx