Since graduating from the Scottish Hotel School at the University of Strathclyde I have worked exclusively with tourism and attraction businesses both in the UK and latterly in Dubai. Serving my “apprenticeship” with seaside piers, including attractions, entertainment, theatres, bars, and restaurants, I then helped open and set up indoor water parks, including opening and establishing the Time Capsule in Coatbridge, the largest indoor non-heritage attraction in Scotland at the time with over 700,000 visitors per annum. I also set up and opened The World of Glass in St Helens, a glass heritage museum and attraction, operated bowling centres and turned Solihull Ice Rink from a loss maker into a significant revenue generator.

Having been head hunted, I went to Dubai and opened the Dubai Ice Rink in the Dubai Mall, set up and created a chain of cinemas (Reel Cinemas) with Reel Cinema Dubai Mall attracting over 3 million people per year making it probably the second busiest cinema in the world and then was Operations Director for Emaar Entertainment running indoor theme parks, cinemas, the ice rink and the Dubai Aquarium. I then set up and managed Imagine, a unique Guinness award-winning fountain, laser and light attraction at Dubai Festival City, where we also organised and managed an extensive range of events and shows, including spectacular firework displays.

All the businesses I’ve worked in have been multifaceted with customer service, marketing and effective operation delivered through enthusiast teams being essential. In all the businesses I have operated working with fantastic teams we have managed to develop visitor numbers and spends, control our costs, enhance our standards, and build and develop our people to generate success.

Having returned to the UK I was looking for an opportunity to work in a multifaceted business which I could help sustain and develop, which delivers great experiences and has an enthusiastic and dedicated team to work with. The Strathspey delivers this with the bonus of fantastic locomotives, scenery, and a wonderful place to live and work.

Since joining the Strathspey Railway as General Manager, three main things have struck me. The dedication and enthusiasm of the people, both volunteers and paid staff, for the railway.  The enjoyment all our customers get from their railway experience is that everyone coming off the train has had a wonderful time and is full of smiles. Our natural asset is the beautiful scenery (and, so far, the mostly fine weather!)

These are superb building blocks for moving the railway forward and a testament to its success and survival to date, particularly during recent challenging times.

However, as everyone knows, times are extremely difficult for all tourism businesses in the current climate. For heritage railways, there are the added challenges of aged assets, locomotives, carriages, and infrastructure, which are increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain. It is, therefore, critical that we put in place robust financial controls to manage our expenditures and monitor our income to ensure we balance the books.