Visit Florida Ray of Sunshine Shortlist

Adele Barnacle, care team leader, The Holiday Village

Care team leader Adele Barnacle has been praised for her efforts supporting homeworkers and her team at The Holiday Village through the strain of the last year. She spoke to customers and homeworkers 24/7 while monitoring their bookings, cancellations and amendments, at times while also homeschooling.

Throughout the pressure, she also helped to keep homeworkers’ motivation high. She organised raffles, quizzes, virtual horse races and other fun activities through the team’s closed Facebook group.

Adele also set up food and toy collection points at the Travel Village retail branch and delivered the proceeds to local causes.

The Holiday Village managing director Paula Nuttall says: “Adele is always positive and amazing at solving problems quickly. She has been fundamental to the success of homeworker retention during this pandemic, we couldn’t have done this without her.”

Laura Featonby of Laura’s Travel, a Holiday Village group member says: “I call Adele my ‘wing man’; no matter what time or what day she’s always there. She keeps me and my bookings on track and even diarises everything for me as a gentle reminder. She truly is amazing and a credit to herself, her family, and the business.”

Operations manager Karen Hodgin adds: “Adele’s passion for looking after the team, the homeworkers and the wider business is simply incredible.”

Natalie Buck, community marketing manager, Hays Travel

Colleagues praise Natalie’s positivity and describe her as highly respected, approachable, professional, supportive and inspirational. They say she’s passionate about her specialism of social media and naturally spreads energy about the subject.

Natalie also has a fantastic ability to listen to colleagues across the business, understand their needs and find them solutions to improve performance. She recently re-aligned her department to match her colleagues’ feedback and ambition to suitable opportunities.

Charlotte Lloyd, senior social media content and engagement lead, says: “Natalie has been a fantastic manager, mentor and friend over the years, who has helped me achieve my goals and develop the skills I need to progress. She has such a bubbly, positive personality which really rubs off on the team and makes it such a fun and enjoyable department to work in.”

Social media auditing executive Caitlin Wilkinson, says: “I can honestly say Natalie is one of the most transparent and positive people I’ve ever met and I couldn’t be happier to work alongside her.”

James Usher, social media content and engagement coordinator, adds: “Natalie is one of the funniest and most kind-hearted people I've met. She’s always there to help you in any way, often putting others before herself. There’s never a dull day in the office as she keeps the team uplifted. Everyone needs a Natalie in their lives!”

Scott McCabe, projects manager, Oasis Travel Ltd

Projects manager Scott McCabe joined Oasis Travel full-time in 2020, while continuing his Business Management degree online. His positive, reassuring influence was soon recognised.

Scott has ensured the business has kept a high profile on social media during travel bans and his humorous posts have attracted several thousand extra followers to its Facebook page. He dressed up as an Oasis Genie, tempted clients with seasonal offers and created a very popular post for dog-friendly holidays, which featured a pooch in Oasis-branded accessories. Once he could travel, his ‘Scott’s Spots’ posts inspired clients to do the same.

Scott has also helped with staff engagement activities, arranging weekly quizzes, pet coffee mornings, relaxation classes and cookery classes to keep morale boosted. He also set staff physical challenges during the 20/21 lockdowns, helping raise nearly £10,000 for local charities.

Since the agency’s September re-opening Scott has staffed the Covid-documentation helpline and has spent many evenings and weekend days at clients’ homes showing them how to fill out PLFs and download necessary apps. Counter staff and clients have been particularly appreciative of this time-critical assistance. During his spare time, he has also helped write the content for the company’s recently re-launched website.

Managing director Sandra Corkin says: “Scott has without doubt been our ray of sunshine during these very difficult times.”

Nikki Metcalfe Dermott, destination specialist, Flight Centre

Nikki has smoothly handled supplier credits and cancellations throughout the pandemic, staying late and coming in early to speak to hotels and suppliers in different time zones. This coincided with a time of upheaval within her own working life as the large department she had been with for many years was closed down. She now supports retail consultants across a wide range of destinations using her considerable global knowledge.

Liz Cairns, head of product and partnerships, says: “Nikki is such a positive force within our business, always on hand to reassure and help our frontline consultants with their complex and difficult enquiries. If things go wrong, she is solutions-focused with a positive smile.”

Liz adds that Nikki has “great rapport,” with suppliers. In fact, they often contact her first to help get Flight Centre staff involved with evening training events. “They go to her because she attracts people to things,” Liz explains. “She’s well known and well-loved.”

In the last year, Nikki was selected as a ‘face of Flight Centre’ ambassador. She has already taken part in a global marketing campaign and an Abta video encouraging people to use travel agents. “She embodies all that is positive and great about Flight Centre,” says Liz. “She always has a smile on her face, and her laugh can be heard across the department every day.”