We spoke with Vicky, and discussed her career at TLH. She has been a part of the TLH Team for nearly 30 years in total. Vicky told us “I did have a break for a short while when I went to work for Barclays – I soon realised that the grass isn’t always greener so returned to TLH in a marketing role!”
She started as the only sales executive in the business, as we expanded so that role grew and we employed more people to work in sales and marketing. Over the years she progressed from being part of a small team to running a department. Vicky commented “The great thing about TLH is that we are big enough for there to be opportunities but small enough to be personal. Hard work and commitment does get noticed and there are probably more, opportunities to move up or sideways then in a larger corporate environment.” Her current position is Senior Marketing Executive, where she manages the marketing department, planning and organising everything from social media, print, email campaigns, website management and anything else that comes our way.
We asked Vicky about her job history, she told us “I started working in London in reservations and then sales for a large hotel company called Rank Hotels. They owned the likes of the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington and the Athenaeum in Piccadilly – all quite different to TLH! I also had a short stint at the Ritz on reception and as a duty manager which was quite an eye opener. I had really enjoyed marketing whilst studying for my Hotel Management Diploma so I know that was an area I wanted to progress into. When I moved back to Devon I saw a role as sales executive come up at TLH, or Torquay Leisure Hotels as it was then. I have had various types of sales roles within TLH until I started to get more involved in marketing.”
We asked Vicky what her favourite part of her role is at TLH? She said, “I love the variety – one day I will be looking at our website performance and the next I’ll be organizing PR for our charity events. The world of digital marketing moves so quickly, there is always something new to learn. It’s also a great feeling when we put together a campaign and see the bookings rolling in on the back of it.”
And finally, some career advice from Vicky to anyone starting out. She commented, “there is a lot of negativity around the younger workforce these days but if you show up ready and keen to learn, you will get noticed. Be helpful to everyone, not just your immediate colleagues and be willing to go that ‘extra mile’ – it can really go a long way.”