32 business travel/tourism
Southampton Airport celebrates new arrivals and improved facilities
Team grows by over 25
In the first quarter of 2011, more than 25 local people have joined the team of 1,200 at Southampton Airport.
Their roles are in areas including ground handling, check-in, fire service, customer service and retail, and they include specialists in environment, health and safety, IT, procurement and finance.
At the start of the year, Southampton Airport promoted the availability of 100 permanent and seasonal jobs throughout 2011, across 30 different companies at the airport. The accompanying careers’ fair was the first of its kind held at Southampton Airport and saw more than 5,000 attend to find out more about forthcoming vacancies and the skills required. CVs and visitors’ contact details were shared across airport companies to match people as roles became available.
Caroline Morton, head of HR for the airport, said: ”As we are one of the region’s largest employers, we wanted to provide a more joined up way of recruiting staff across the 30 different companies at the airport. The careers’ fair was just the beginning of this approach, and has resulted in 25 new people being appointed so far this year.”
There will continue to be a variety of permanent and seasonal job vacancies available at Southampton Airport through 2011, in areas such as the fire service, security, airside operations, cleaning and catering.
New executive lounge
In addition to increasing its staff compliment, Southampton Airport has developed a new executive lounge, the Breeze Priority Lounge, for business and leisure passengers to enjoy a dedicated quiet and relaxed space before their flight.
The facility, located upstairs in the departure lounge, is available to all departing passengers aged over 18, at a cost of just £17.50 per person and can hold up to 30 people at a time.
Passengers who pre-book access to the business lounge can use the facilities for up to three hours before their flight.
The price includes: priority security access, comfortable seating, laptop and mobile phone charge points, complementary WiFi, flight information screens, as well as a selection of high-quality locally produced snacks and drinks.
Refreshments include handmade biscuits, natural mineral water and top-quality local wines all sourced from Hampshire-based award-winning companies: Little Rose Bakery, Hildon Water and Wickham Vineyards.
Some of the recent new arrivals
Kate Poole, owner of Little Rose Bakery, said: ”We are really delighted to be supplying our local airport with shortbread and biscuits. The airport team is really friendly and it is a pleasure to be working with them.”
Added Jonathan Rogers, estate manager for Wickham Vineyards: ”It is a great benefit for passengers to be able to see and taste our wines before they fly across Europe.”
Users enjoying the new business lounge
Neil Garwood, terminal operations manager for Southampton Airport, concluded: ”Forty percent of our passengers travel for business reasons, and they tell us the reason for choosing Southampton Airport is due to its easy, fast and friendly nature. We wanted to develop a facility to help make their journeys even more stress-free. More than £130,000 has been invested in this lounge to provide the ideal quiet environment to relax or continue working on those all important business deadlines, while adding a real taste of Hampshire at the same time.”
Hampshire tourism businesses recognised for excellence
Three Hampshire tourism businesses scooped Awards at the Enjoy England National Awards for Excellence held at The Great Hall in Birmingham.
Overall, four gold and two silver awards were presented to south east businesses, making it a record award-winning year for the region.
Winchester Tourism Information Centre took gold for Tourist Information Service, while silver awards went to Chewton Glen Hotel in New Milton (Large Hotel of the Year) and Tylney Hall Hotel in Rotherwick (Outstanding Customer Service). Other golden south east winners were
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The Bay Tree Hotel (Small Hotel of the Year) and Royal Ascot (Best Tourism Event).
Organised by VisitEngland, the annual awards recognise outstanding commitment to customer service and high-quality standards in 15 categories. Four gold awards and two silver awards in this celebration of the crème de la crème of the UK’s tourism businesses represents the best-ever winning haul for the region and proves once again that it can lead the country in providing a world-class visitor experience.
”We had six finalists in some of the most competitive and high-profile categories of
these prestigious national awards which is in itself an achievement. To win four gold and two silver awards shows that the south east’s destinations, accommodation and attractions offer outstanding service, experiences and value and set the gold standard not just in England, but internationally,” said John Williams, chairman, Tourism South East.
”Competition from across England is fierce and standards are extremely high, so to achieve such high accolades is a resounding endorsement of Hampshire and the south east’s businesses.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JUNE 2011
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