My Journey Begins at Parkdean Resorts

My name is Sarah Bellingham and I'm the Complex Manager at West Bay Holiday Park. I started with Parkdean Resorts this year after being approached from a talent team expert via LinkedIn and I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying each day. Everyone I encounter has been incredibly helpful, welcoming and it has made me feel like I belong here. I am still relatively new to the Parkdean family, but I’d like to think I’m fitting in well. My background is in hospitality which I have worked in for all my career and have been lucky enough to have worked in some fantastic companies such as Bourne Leisure and Warner Hotels. The experience I have gained and passion for hospitality has led me to a fantastic opportunity and now I have bought this passion to my current role and hope to do incredible things and lead my team to success.

What I love about Parkdean Resorts is that every day is different. We work at a fast pace within food and beverage to deliver a consistent high standard to our guests within our venues across all our parks. One day we could be catering to a family of 85 the next day to make a birthday special for a guest - every customer and guest are different and have different needs. It’s important to remember this when in the holiday park industry.

I like to think my team and I are well adapted at catering to all our guest individually. Behind the scenes it is the same, being in the kitchen and lending a helping hand with food prep / serving food, getting behind the bar when needed, serving tables and then heading to the office in the back to finish off emails and other paperwork related business such as compliance, cash handling and licensing. Its full-on days and it can get jam packed but I absolutely I love it.

For International Woman’s Day I think it’s important to celebrate those women who have climbed the ranks and made a difference. As history has shown it’s not always been easy for women to be recognised within the workplace for their achievements, to gain promotions and to have a say in the running of an organisation. We certainly could be doing more to make sure there is enough of that. That’s not to say it shouldn’t be fair everyone should be celebrate for their hard work and dedication in and out of the workplace.