World of Work

The Classic Cottages office in Helston was the setting for a new type of schooling thanks to the Surf to Success program pioneered by Global Boarders / GB Boardriders CIC. Five teenagers and their two mentors arrived with pens at the ready to find out what goes on in a working day, their primary theme being customer service. Having established that very few of us can surf, we all sat down around a not-too-scary boardroom style table in the office of our Managing Director, Anthony Skitt, and chatted about how our company came to be, what challenges were faced in setting up the business, and how we manage our customer service for both our Owners and our Guests.

A quick tour of the Georgian building we are based in gave an idea of a working environment and the teens had a chance to ask any questions about anything and everything (‘within reason’ was the quip from one!). Hopefully, outings like today’s will provide them with opportunities for apprenticeships, work experience and a general insight into the working world.

The afternoon ended with a summing up of impressions. Thankfully everyone seemed suitably impressed and so here are some of the ‘quote’s of the day’:

“It is interesting to see different businesses, ask questions, and have an insight into what they do. The staff were friendly, made us feel welcome and answered all the questions that we had. The company seems very organised and it seems like a nice place to work. Everyone plays their own part in the business.”

“Very organised, seem very helpful, everyone’s got their own part in making it how it is today. They have done very well for what they wanted to achieve. The staff are friendly and sociable and polite.”

“The staff are alright and very organised, a good business.”

“Everyone has their own space, computers and position so they all play a part.”

“Each component works together to create a whole, like cogs in a machine.”

All very polite comments thank you, although a certain someone piped up that “it seems very relaxed, whereas other places are stressy, but I bet when we’re gone it all falls apart!”. A comment to which we say “no comment”!