Finding a place that feels like home within the Holidays team

Nina Stirrup joined us for the summer in 2018. Flash forward four years and she’s now a Holidays Assistant. She’s been chatting to us about how her career has developed and what’s kept her at the Trust.

How did you come to work in the Holidays team?

I joined the Trust in 2018 having applied for the seasonal Outdoor Holidays Operation Assistant role at Great Langdale Campsite, whilst completing my university degree. The plan was to spend the summer living and working in the Lakes before getting a ‘proper’ job. When it came to the end of the season, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to keep working on site. The bustle of the first summer was a whirl of greeting guests, working in the shop, cleaning and enjoying a pint at the local pub with my new colleagues. It was a lot quieter over winter which helped me develop a deeper understanding of how to operate such a large site.

How did you come to work at The Lakes?

It was unlikely that there would be full time hours over winter at Langdale so I applied for the role as Bookings Co-ordinator for The Lakes campsites. This involved moving to an office role in a small team where we answered phone calls and email enquiries from campsite guests. I already had excellent knowledge of the Langdale and Hoathwaite campsites, but this allowed me to expand my knowledge of the three other Lakes sites. Whilst in this role, my manager supported me in starting an apprenticeship in Business Administration which I did alongside my job. Then lockdown happened. I felt very lucky to live in such a special place during a difficult time. Working remotely brought its challenges, but the strong relationship with my team made the transition easier and we quickly adapted.

What led to you becoming a Holidays Assistant?

During lockdown the Holidays business restructured meaning that more remote jobs were becoming available. I didn’t get the first role in the National team I applied for but impressed the interviewer enough to be encouraged to apply for the alternative role that I’m in now, as Holidays Assistant. Being able to work remotely meant that I am still able to work for the Trust despite the nearest office being one hour away, and most of my colleagues being based in the South. In my new role I’ve been able to learn more about the indoors business and work with lots of new internal and external stakeholders. In this time, I’ve also completed my apprenticeship with the support of my different managers and teams.

What does your day-to-day look like in this role?

One of my main tasks involves setting up new assets, mostly cottages. I’ve done about 15 so far. This starts by interviewing the Holiday Manager to gather all the information I need to set the cottage up on the booking system and webpage, arranging the photoshoot and then making the cottage live for bookings. It’s very exciting sharing the new cottage webpages with colleagues and watching as the bookings come in.

I’m also responsible for organising photoshoots for all our assets and I work with several external photographers to achieve this. We’ve shot around 75 assets this year, with many more shoots planned for the rest of the year. I then upload the new images to the webpage, share with relevant stakeholders and recommend images for marketing.

What are you most excited about going forwards?

I’m looking forward to the future here. Each job I’ve held in the Trust has helped me bring new knowledge to each team I’ve joined. I hope to continue moving through roles developing skills and understanding as I go. As I improve in my current role, my manager is increasing my responsibility on projects. And of course, I’m looking forward to visiting and staying at more campsites and cottages!