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Mandy Nickerson (nee Bales)
Managing Director

January- Diary Entry 1

It’s Saturday; I have just come back form the gym and enjoyed a bacon sandwich!! A contradiction in terms but at least I am semi-trying to be fit and healthy. I have just signed up to another course with a personal trainer- no not a New Year’s fad as I have had a personal trainer for the last three years and the main reason I do this is because I would not be disciplined enough to go to the gym otherwise. It is not something that I enjoy and I know I would find a thousand and one reasons not to go if I wasn’t committed to the booked time with the trainer. I try to go three times a week at 6.30 in the morning. It is amazing that there is a queue of people waiting for the doors to open at that time. I also know that my trainer drives me harder and left to my own devices I would row slower, probably never go on the step machine and walk rather than run on the treadmill. I must say whether it is psychological or fact, I do feel better for going. Sarah, our Sales Manager I would say was a gym addict – goes every night for two to three hours – I could not even persuade my car to go in the direction of the gym after work. You can tell though Sarah is very slim and toned and me – well I am built for comfort not speed!! There is another reason I go besides health and that is to try and have more dimensions to my life – I am one of those sad people that think about my job and what I have to do all the time and I don’t think that is good thing (Although it may be for you because I am constantly thinking about our ultimate goal: a service that is second to none.)

January- Diary Entry 2

Enough about that. I don’t know how many of you that read this are in government and if you are perhaps you can help to explain something to the travel industry. You may have heard that Gordon Brown doubled airport departure tax on 6th December for all departures after 1st February. The industry is fairly confident to say that there was no consultation from the Government before this decision was taken. What does this mean to you and what affect has it had on tour operators? Well if you booked your holiday before 6th December for a departure after February 2007, you do not have to pay the increased tax as we are not allowed by our regulations to pass on this charge to you if you had already booked. We, however do have to pay it and I am not exaggerating when I say it is going to cost the tour operators several million pounds. Our industry does not operate on big % profit margins (honestly!) and so this increased tax announcement will really hit a lot of companies as many of us would have clients that booked for 2007 before 6th December. I must say if you hadn’t booked your holiday before this date tour operators are allowed to pass on the increased tax to you to pay. You could say that is unfair …. But that decision was made by Gordon Brown and so my only suggestion would be for you to take it up with him if you feel strongly about this.

January- Diary Entry 3

January- Diary Entry 4

January - Diary Entry 5

I am delighted with the way the relatively new structure of our Planning department has worked. We have Mark, who heads up Planning. Mark is very well travelled – he believes he has been to more countries than I have but that is under dispute. He has actually been to more than me, having visited some 63 countries and many several times. He doesn’t read this blog and so will be blissfully unaware that I have conceded on this point. Mark is passionate about travel and one thing he does miss in his management position is that he travels less than he used to. Mark heads up our team of Product Managers who are all responsible for separate regional brochures – Steve – Latin America. Kirsty (who is married to Mark) and Vicky cover China and the Far East, India and the Sub Continent and Canada and Martin looks after Egypt and the Middle East and Africa. They are supported by Clare who supports in the loading of all products on to our booking system – not a five minute job as I am sure you can imagine. Sally looks after our image library and so can be congratulated on the improvement of the clarity and the quality of so many of the pictures we have in the brochures. Whilst the Product Managers do take responsibility for their geographical areas, none could do it without the support of Mark, his knowledge and commercial awareness are totally invaluable. Now I really hope Mark doesn’t read this ... too much praise!!

My husband has just walked in and said ‘goodness how much are you writing, you have verbal diarrhoea’, though how it is verbal when I am writing it I don’t know. He suggests that perhaps I am overdoing the word count and even intimated that perhaps my life wasn’t that interesting. Bowing down to his judgement I am now signing off…