Guests coming to stay here in the Lake District at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa may find the first person they meet is a former business chief executive who is trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
Andy’s skills and experience help Low Wood Bay guests feel at home
60-year-old Andy Goodson from Bowness has decided to postpone his retirement and join the English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues team in a front-of-house customer service role.
When Andy retired in 2019, he soon realised that he missed the buzz of working life, and especially being around teams and groups of people he could help. So when he saw the chance to take a new direction and launch a career in the hospitality and catering industry, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Andy’s role as a ‘meet and greet’ member of staff at Low Wood Bay involves making our guests feel at home the moment they walk through the door. It’s a far cry from his top flight executive business career which typically brought high level pressures and long hours, but his management and people skills have made Andy a perfect fit for the new job.
A Varied and Interesting Career
Andy’s previous career included the chief executive role at My Space Housing Solutions. He has also worked in numerous roles in the training and care sectors and later established Goodson Coaching, working as a personal performance and business coach.
His training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) has allowed him to help clients achieve and often exceed their business goals by working on behaviours to move past challenges that may stand in their way. This includes stress reduction techniques and using mindfulness and emotional intelligence to improve performance and team working.
“Retirement wasn’t for me yet and I love the new role,” explains Andy. “You meet people from all over the world and can get their life story in a couple of minutes as you take them round the venue and settle them into their rooms.
“I’ve always been a people person at heart and this new role is all about making our guests as relaxed as possible.”
When Andy decided to return to work, he didn’t want another senior post. He saw that English Lakes Hotels offered a range of naturally varied hospitality job roles.
English Lakes offers Diverse Career Opportunities
As a family business, we pride ourselves on providing progressive, diverse career opportunities for staff. We aim to build strong teams from all age ranges and backgrounds, including those looking to forge a career in hospitality for the first time or those returning to the industry.
This commitment to workforce development includes support not only to help embed strong customer service and team working skills, but also to make a difference in terms of working hours, travel to work and offering accommodation where we can.
Our Low Wood Bay personnel manager, Michelle Croukamp, adds: “Andy’s experience as a leader and personal performance coach, plus his natural affinity for working with people, shines through with his approach to both colleagues and guests.”
Ready for a New Challenge
English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues is always on the look-out for talented people from all walks of life and age groups. Find out more about available jobs across a range of hospitality industry disciplines,
