034-035 PW-November QA Amanda_Park Profile 2.qxd 05/11/2021 15:19 Page 35
Interview
www.parkworld-online.com
So, we just got down to it; we had a tight, small team that worked on ways of getting people into the park safely.”
The first days and weeks of shutdown were the hardest. “As the owner of a business and being managing director of the business, it was very confusing for me because I wasn't allowed on site at all for the first eight weeks. So, when we shut up shop, we literally shut up, locked our doors and went. I've never been away from this park except when I was a child and at boarding school and I had certainly been away from the park whilst working or told I can't visit.” Blackpool Pleasure Beach even remained open during war, so it’s not surprising that in Amanda’s being shut “simply wasn’t feasible.” “When we were allowed back, we had a small team, probably about 10 or 20 people maintaining the park and getting it ready for re-opening. I did everything from polishing railings to trimming the roses,” remembers Amanda. “I was out there with everyone, and it was it was good, because we were all doing jobs that we weren't used to, but we were preparing to welcome our guests again,” she says.
Working in the leisure sector Since re-opening Blackpool Pleasure Beach like everyone in the hospitality and sector has experienced difficulties recruiting staff; many overseas staff returned home during the pandemic, while others from the UK re- evaluated their career choices during lockdown and never returned. “There is a huge amount of people that have no jobs, but they are just uncertain of what they want to do, and they don't want to choose hospitality or leisure as their number one choice anymore because they perceive it as uncertain,” says Amanda.
Another challenge is getting young people into the industry, says Amanda. “I think if they really understood how essential it is to the economy and how important and how valuable it is, they would think differently but that's something we've got to educate the young on and everyone else because it's also an exciting industry to work in, it changes all the time. It’s not boring working in this industry, you meet people every day and each day is different. There are jobs for everyone you can be an accountant, an engineer, a painter you can be anything you would like to be within our industry.” IAAPA has a group called the Young
Professionals, which takes people up to the age of 35. “I want to push that to 40,” says Amanda, “because I think truthfully, it takes time to choose which parts of the industry you want to go into, then suddenly you have a family, and you are not a “young” professional anymore.”
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
Flying Machines, Blackpool Pleaseure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach has a Junior Board, which takes people from 13 to 16 from all over the UK. “It's an exciting way forward because they learn all the aspects of our business and, they really want to be part of our business,” says Amanda. “We look and take a very broad view of who we feel would be the right type of people to join our junior board; they apply, and we interview them and then we go from there. They have been a huge excess story for us - a lot of them have gone to work in the leisure market so that's good. We get a lot of applications from young people, thousands, then at 16 they must “retire”. I like that. I think last year, we had something like one and a half thousand applications. So, it’s not that people aren't inspired about being in this industry it’s how we involve them at an earlier age.”
Lessons learned
Amanda and the entire IAAPA team were “thrilled” with the recent Expo. “It was the first live event we have had for two years, and it was great to be able to meet in person. Many had travelled a long way to get there, it brought the decision makers out and they were buying on the shop floor.” While Amanda’s run as IAAPA chair is
ending, she remains a member of the Board of Directors and will, she says continue to be very vocal in that role. “We are going to take what we have learned, and I think have more digital events or events that are enhanced by digital elements. Certainly, the live events will continue, that’s what we do, but it might be the case that not everyone can get there so some speakers might be in Spain or in China for example and we might be sitting in a in an educational seminar in America. So, I think that will happen, in that we will have
more workshops online for everyone to join. We will also be looking at more educational programmes to move forward. “I've learned a lot personally I think the industry's learnt a lot,” continues Amanda. “As operators, we have learned that we don't have to open our doors to huge numbers, we must open our doors to the right numbers. I think that's what's valuable, it has made people understand the value of their property. Working with Covid restrictions and reduced footfall has helped us look after our customers in a new and different way.” Blackpool Pleasure Beach has extended the 2021 season to allow guests even more opportunities to enjoy the much-loved family attraction for even longer. The Park will be operating daily until 31st October, then every weekend until 12th December, to coincide with Blackpool’s famous Illuminations. “I don't really like being shut,” says Amanda, thankfully we're open until 12 December this year, only at weekends from November, but we're still going to be open. We haven’t done that before and so, because we were we were shutdown, it gives us a bit more time. Then, we are opening the second weekend in February at the weekends up until Easter, so hopefully we can move forward and find a new way out of all this pandemic and then look towards a new and exciting future for our industry.”
As our conversation ends, I ask Amanda what she is most looking forward to in 2022. “The re-opening of Valhalla!” she says. Plans for the project were delayed due to the pandemic, but with the exciting “re- imagining” of the famous water ride nearly complete, Amanda and the team can’t wait to see guests enjoying it.
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