Seymour Hotels Centenary Magazine SPREADS - Flipbook - Page 55
BEHIND THE SCENES BRILLIANCE
Behind the
scenes
brilliance
Open up Tina Seymour’s
handbag and you’ll find
three vital items. A tape
measure, notepad and pen.
Anytime, anywhere, she’s
ready to note a broken
light, chair in need of
repair, bed to be replaced
or empty space to fill.
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A
s Group Housekeeping Director, Tina and her small
team work tirelessly behind the scenes of the four
Seymour Group properties to make sure the 490
bedrooms and public areas of all shapes and sizes are ship
shape and fit for purpose. The Housekeeping manual fills
a bookshelf, documenting every single fixture, fitting and
furnishing, coupled with standard operating procedures
for the smooth running of the hotels. There are details
for sourcing, repair and replacement of every item on the
inventory – from paint colours to light switches, carpet to
fabrics. It’s this meticulous attention to detail that means the
high Seymour standards are maintained at all times.
Tina celebrates her own anniversary next year; 2021
marking her 40-years with the Seymour Group. Joining the
business in May 1981 under the brilliant
mentorship of Rita Seymour and working
alongside Gillian Seymour, Tina quickly
learned the family’s approach to hospitality
– when a visitor crosses the threshold,
they should at once feel welcome and
comfortable. She formally joined the family
in 1983, marrying childhood sweetheart
and today’s Managing Director David.
A desire to work in hospitality was
kindled at a young age. Tina’s mother, at
the time the Island’s Careers Officer, opened her eyes to
the career opportunities available. Holiday jobs in retail,
beach kiosks, campsites and as a Ground Hostess for British
Midland Airways cemented her desire to work with people.
An HND in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management
from Oxford Polytechnic provided a solid foundation for her
resulting career.
No two days are the same for the Housekeeping team, with
year-round demand for hands-on support. Winter months
are the busiest with the overseeing of refurbishments,
stocktaking, buying replacements and sourcing new items.
“We hold about £80,000 of stock at any one time, everything
from toilet brushes to Christmas decorations, beds to staff
uniforms, and own 33,000 items of linen alone,” Tina explains
undaunted. “We are ready to repair and replace throughout
the year whilst juggling the bigger, long-term refurbishment
projects. It’s only possible because of the excellent teams
we have; upwards of 90 behind the scenes at the height of
summer maintaining and keeping the hotels in excellent
working order. We work closely with local suppliers and
contractors, many of whom have worked with the family
for more than three generations. We simply couldn’t achieve
what we do without them.”
Walking through each property regularly in order to see
what the guests see is the secret to Housekeeping success
for Tina. A hands-on approach is vital and means that when
accidents happen, they can be dealt with quickly and with
minimum impact on guests. From getting stuck in mopping
up a ground floor flood on Christmas day to trialling
fogger suits and masks to deal with any potentially
infectious outbreak, no task is too challenging for the
Housekeeping team.
But it’s Tina’s ability to step out of
the day to day never-ending task list and
plan for the future that is truly inspiring.
Finding the right balance between being
on-trend but future proof and planning
décor that’s both attractive and resilient
to wear and tear is a skill. In conjunction
with hotel design specialist Jane Goff, who
has worked with three generations of the
Seymour family for more than thirty years,
Tina has helped shape the look and feel of
every room and is justifiably proud of the result.
Every holiday is a busman’s holiday as Tina and David
spot new ideas that can be brought back to the Seymour
properties. Thousands of photos taken on these trips are
housed on the central system, ready to inspire future plans.
Coupled with seasonal site inspections and guest feedback,
refurbishment plans are delivered each year to ensure the
Seymour offering remains relevant to today’s traveller.
Sometimes it’s been pretty close to the wire getting
everything ready for the new season. Tina’s face breaks into
a smile as she recalls shuffling contractors out of the back
door as the front door opened for guests visiting the newly
refurbished Greenhills Country Hotel, and painting the
façade of the Pomme d’Or hotel the morning of the Queen’s
arrival for the 60th anniversary of the Liberation!
Life is never dull for the Housekeeping team. With her
measuring tape in one hand and notebook in the other, Tina
relishes every moment.
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