Meet The Team

These are the people who will make such a difference to your stay with us. We are proud of them all and are delighted to call them "Our Team".

John and Joanne

When John and Joanne arrived at Queensberry Bay back in 2001 it's fair to say they had absolutely no idea what was in store. That was probably a good thing – there's a lot to be said at times for putting a paper bag on your head, digging a deep hole and jumping in with your eyes closed.

It was though, it has to be said, a baptism of fire ...

Joanne, a chartered accountant, like most accountants thought she knew everything there was to know about business. And John, a farmer and businessman thought he'd seen it all. How wrong they were!

John deals with the day to day maintenance of the park as well as any major development work and siting new vans. If you’re looking for John, look first for the dogs - his "entourage" - John won’t be far away!

Joanne also runs an accountancy practice from the farm house so, if you don’t see her, she’s most likely adding up a column of figures somewhere. With her head in a paper bag. Both of them take the running of Queensberry Bay very seriously - and want to hear from you if anything is not just so.

Nicola

Nicola's been with us off and on since she was just a wee lassie, when she had a Saturday job. Now she's the mother of two – and still doesn't look a day over 17!

When she was at college Nicola trained in accounts - but for some reason found accounts "boring" - and now spends her days politely answering questions like "How wet does it get on the beach?" or  "Where can I put my 60 foot camper van?" Apparently she finds this job more interesting ...

We were delighted when Nicola decided to come back to work after her second  maternity leave - the place just wasn't the same without her.

Nicola has grown with us over the years and has trained what feels like half of Annan in our booking package – the trials and tribulations of a seasonal business – yet each time the question is asked she patiently explains once again the difference between a tourer and a camper, and between touring and camping and letting, and why the mouse has disappeared from the shop desk once again and where we keep the spare.

In her time here Nicola has moved from front office to cleaning and back again – more than anyone else Nicola knows how each part of the business works  -  so you'll see her popping up on reception every now and then.

Pauline

Pauline's been with us for 294 years give or take the odd weekend. Every year she retires - and every year we manage to convince her that we can't cope without her.

Now in her 70s, Pauline’s beginning to get stroppier about this – but Joanne says we'll do all it takes to keep her here – even if that means propping her up against the counter for the season, feeding her a diet of her favourite ready salted crisps. 

Why do we love her so much? Because, when things get stressful - as they do from time to time, believe it or not - Pauline has that wonderful innate Lancashire ability to make you laugh - usually because she’s taken the cordless mouse home in her handbag ("Don’t we have one each?") or is trying to scan a barcode with the stapler ("It's stopped working again Nicola").

Pauline's part of the furniture at Queensberry Bay – and if ever she leaves us for good we'll just have to sell up - so please cherish her as much as we do!

Andrew

Now, our Andrew's a bit of an enigma. If he'd been born a couple of generations earlier we're fairly sure Andrew would have led his troops on camel back across the windswept Arabian sand dunes in a ghutra.

As it is he works at Queensberry Bay – but if you do happen to spot him riding our llamas across the windswept Powfoot sand bars in a Queensberry Bay tee shirt you’d best let us know (especially if he’s not got his hard hat on). Blood will out, after all.

Our Andrew's been everywhere – you name the country, he's been there.   He was even a stunt man, riding motorbikes through flaming hoops! But he doesn't brag – truly enigmatic people don’t – you just notice in conversation how very well travelled he is.

And if ever you're looking for a winner for the local general knowledge pub quiz – Andrew's your man – and he makes his own wine and beer so he'll be cheap to take along too!

Andrew applied to us in 2009 for an admin role – but it must have been in error because he's way out of our league. We spotted his talents and he now works most of the time with John and Colin on grounds and as part of the Pets Corner Team – so don't shake hands, particularly at lambing time – but we also make him work in the shop from time to time to remind him of his mistake ...

Cathy

If Andrew was crossing the Arabian Desert in a past life then our Cathy was a Labrador puppy. Cathy loves everyone and everything and is quite possibly the kindest, happiest and most sensible person we've ever taken on. This can be trying for us mere mortals ...

Cathy joined us in 2009 and she says that the people and animals here just aren't "knitted up right".  She says that’s why she fits in so well.

Although it must be said that since she lost about 27 stone in weight and went from a size 24 to a 14 she's fitted into a lot of things rather well. And if you think that diets don’t work – here’s our "before" picture, taken in January 2010. And we hate her for it!!

Cathy is just brilliant at humorous writing and we feel she missed her vocation here but according to Cathy it wasn't her vocation she missed – it was the bus on the way to the course. One thing she didn't miss was her massage training course – which she passed with flying colours. So if you book a massage with us it’s our Cathy who'll be asking you if you've anything planned for the weekend.

Cathy may not be the fastest on the team when it comes to the computer – but my goodness she's the nicest of the lot of us!

Colin

If Cathy’s sons were 10 years older and had red hair, they would be called Colin. This would be a bit silly of course – you don't normally name both your sons the same unless you’re hiding  something from HMRC – but Colin has got his wonderful nature from somewhere. And come to think of it Cathy is very vague about her movements some 30 years ago ...

Colin is a great worker, a great member of the team and a great guy – and all the women over a certain age just want to mother him. This makes him very nervous. John says he can see why.

Colin works with Andrew and John and is often to be seen on the mower, on a tractor, on a step ladder or on the run from ladies of a certain age who just want to mother him - in a scene reminiscent of Benny Hill. 

So if you see him out and about do stop to say hello – but don’t hold him up for too long – he likes to stay one step ahead ...

Dan

Mick (see below) made a huge difference to our business in all manner of ways – and made a difference to Dan because we found ourselves looking for an extra pair of hands just as Dan was looking for a job.

Dan is one of those guys that you just know has a more interesting social life than you do: he doesn't say that of course – he doesn't have to – but he's definitely got us older ladies fondly reminiscing about those Saturday nights of yore – Blind Date followed by a night at the Disco.

Cathy says they didn't have discos in her day – it was the working men's social club for her.  I'm sure the Blind Date bit's right though.

Dan works with Colin – we refer to them fondly as the Chuckle Brothers – Andrew and John and you'll see him leaping on and off tractors, sawing wood for decks or helping out with the animals. Dan lives in Powfoot – so you may also see him cycling to work. Do give him a wide berth – he'll have had a better night than the rest of us that’s for sure!

Mick

Mick joined us as salesman in the summer of 2011 and what a difference he's made! We'd employed salesmen before – but found them very different from ourselves and Joanne in particular found them all but impossible to work with. Whether it was the incessant upbeat manner (so annoying on a wet Monday morning!), the exuberant clothes or the downright fact fabrication and embellishments to all and sundry we're not sure. But – shall we say – flexing the truth somewhat certainly seemed to be an issue.

Then along came Mick. With his pink shirts ("I'm not gay you know"), jovial manner ("It costs nothing to have a laugh") and ability to turn even the most fraught meeting with John and Joanne into a group hug, Mick is a very special person who fits in with us at Queensberry Bay like a hand in a pink leather with gold braid inserts glove.

And as for selling – his technique is admittedly rather different from Joanne’s tried and tested "Do you want it or not?" – but it works. Rather better in fact ....

If you're passing the sales office do call in for a chat and a group hug – but don't take your cheque book. Mick has this way with people.

Lauren

Lauren joined us in the summer of 2010 on a temporary contract when Cathy was poorly – but we wouldn't dream of letting her go!

Lauren is a pleasant but very efficient young lady who heads our shop / reception and anything else we can throw at her – but you won't see much of her because she's always on the move. And she's very fast.

Lauren is an animal lover, has her own horse (George) and brings her no nonsense efficiency to everything she does. Wanting to expand her horizons she put herself through the acrylic nail course and we've since put her through waxing and makeup. And she does this in addition to her main job.

When we asked if she felt she could cope with waxing AND the shop her reply was "Yeah - I can pop across, whip off the hair and pop back in a jiffy".

That's our Lauren!

Pam

Pam has been with us off and on for many years. Pam is our cleaner – but she's so much more than that, head house keeper, or so we agree in her presence. 

Pam is extremely motivated so don’t stand too close as the chances are you will be polished along with everything else.  We say cleaning but our Pam will turn her hand to anything, painting, answering the phone if Cathy has mysteriously disappeared, she even gives the lads on grounds a good telling if they have walked through her lovely clean toilets in muddy boots! 

Pam is always asked by tourists, "Why can’t I clear up the water after my shower?" In which she replies, "Because I wouldn't have a job", and the fact is that no one else can do it as well! In summer you can find our Pam in the shop enjoying one of our trade mark bacon rolls, "the best in region".

As well as being our cleaner, Pam has grandchildren so you may see her around the park at weekends looking at the animals, please do say hello.

Pamela

Pamela's is a face you won’t see too often – or at least not on our side of the counter - but you'll definitely recognize the voice!

Truth be told, Pamela works in Joanne's accountancy practice – the "posh bit" - at the farm house doing accounts and bookkeeping and generally keeping on top of the pile of papers that Joanne leaves on her desk when she's not looking.

Pamela previously worked for a proper firm in Carlisle where they had strategy meetings and team building exercises – and now works at a place where our long term planning strategy is whose turn it is to make the tea and our team building exercises are based around catching the emus when they escape.

Like the rest of us, Pamela's day is split into a million unrelated parts and, in addition to her accounts and VAT work she answers the park phones when Lauren’s busy stripping hair from ladies' legs and Cathy's busy chatting to Crackers the parrot.

Despite working for the "posh bit" Pamela is very much a part of the Queensberry Bay team – and even has a touring van here so when she’s not in the office you'll see her out and about with the family.

Eric (and Rupert)

OK - so maybe they aren't fully paid up members of the team - and Rupert in particular (seen here on the left with the dodgy ear) can be a bit crabbed in the morning so he's no good on the front desk - but Eric and his gang are as much a part of Queensberry Bay as our Pauline and the wind (although she’s on medication for that now).