Go behind the scenes with our Passenger Relations Team (pages 4-5)
Read about our inaugural work experience event (pages 8-9)
Welcome to the summer issue of Delivering for Scilly magazine, full of the latest Company news. It has been a busy, eventful and, at times, challenging season so far. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, as always, for your continued commitment.
Committed to delivering for Scilly – our latest customer feedback (pages 6-7)
Find out how our teams saved the day for the crew of a stricken vessel (page 12)
After 25 years with the Company, Skybus Chief Pilot Richard Ashby will be retiring at the end of the current season, on 3rd November.
Hayle Surf Lifesaving Club has two new bespoke beach shelters thanks to a donation from the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, replacing the old gazebo that had seen better days.
The shelters have already made a big difference at social events and will also be used when the club tours around the county and further afield for the various surf lifesaving competitions.
Club treasurer Traci Parker said: “On behalf of the whole membership, I’d like to say that we are all so very grateful for your very kind donation. As a relatively small charity, your very generous donation makes the world of difference to us, and to be supported by a company from within our own community makes it all the more appreciated. Thanks once again.”
Richard initially joined the Company in 1991 until 1995, when he left to join British Midland.
He was re-employed as Head of Training in June 1998 and appointed Chief Pilot in 2001. Richard has been instrumental in the development of Skybus over the past 25 years.
On behalf of Skybus and the Steamship Group we would like to wish Richard the very best in his retirement.
It’s all change on St Mary’s as we wave farewell to Eldred Banfield and welcome Jeanette Ware and Emma Squire to new roles.
Eldred left the Steamship Group at the end of July, after four years as Freight Manager. He is staying on Scilly and returning to building. We wish him well for the future.
Jeanette has taken on the new role of Islands Operations Manager. Since 2019, Jeanette and her team at Island Carriers have turned it from lossmaking to profit-making, and an intrinsic part of the Steamship Group.
Jeanette’s new role will involve overseeing both Island Carriers and St Mary’s Quay and providing support to Quay Manager James Squire. In addition, she will continue building stakeholder relations and providing management support on the islands.
Emma will become the new manager at Island Carriers, taking over Jeanette’s former role. Emma has been with Island Carriers since 2018 and has been an important part of the team that has improved its financial performance.
Congratulations to both Jeanette and Emma, we wish you well in your new roles.
In June, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group’s Chairman Ian Howard was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List for services to the sport of triathlon.
The list marks the extraordinary contributions and service of people across the UK.
Ian, chairman of the Steamship Group since 2019, is a former chairman and president of British Triathlon and a British Olympic Association board member. The honour recognises his contribution to the growth of the sport both in the UK and internationally.
Ian said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive this award. Whilst chairing a National Governing Body may not seem that relevant to the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, it actually is. In both instances not taking the easy route, but staying true to the organisation’s vision and values is crucial to success, be it measured in medals or profitability.”
Stuart Reid, Chief Executive of the Steamship Group, said: “Everyone at the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group sends their congratulations to Ian on such an incredible achievement.”
The team is made up of 13 people – 9 in Penzance and four in St Mary’s. There are eight working in what used to known as the Travel Centre, three in passenger services and two running the park and ride operation.
Customer satisfaction is the number one priority of Passenger Relations Manager Ian Williamson and his team.
The department operates six days a week – although passenger services also work on Sundays during the summer Scillonian III sailings – and is responsible for everything from customer bookings to Scillonian check-in, investigating claims to customer services.
The team answers on average 187-229 phone calls per day between the eight travel centre staff – that’s around 28 phone calls each, every day.
sometimes up to three times each, to ensure they’ve got the message. In the summer months, that can be 200-250 people. It’s not an exaggeration to say those days are hectic and we don’t stop until we’ve spoken to every single person. We’ve done our job properly if nobody turns up to a cancelled ship.”
Increasingly, the team’s role involves answering customer emails and the relatively new chat function on our website, which enables customers to ask questions and get a tailored response online.
“ We are a small team in a multi-faceted and demanding job,” explained Ian. “ It can be incredibly busy and some days we don’t have time to think, but I can honestly say every one of us goes the extra mile and takes huge pride in our work.”
In June 2023, they also dealt with 754 emails, 840 web chats, 279 Travel Club renewals, 73 customer service cases and six freight claims.
“But that’s nothing compared to days when we have travel disruption,” said Ian. “We ring the affected passengers,
The Scillonian Park and Ride team is also part of the Passenger Relations department. Ian said: “They can take 170 cars at a time, but they do so much more than just checking people’s vehicles in. The park and ride is really operating at its best right now and is a real asset.”
During the quieter winter months, the team puts in place a winter action plan to ensure everything is ready for the
We’ve been behindthe-scenes with our busy Passenger Relations Team of 13, straddled between Penzance and St Mary’s.
season ahead.
Ian, who joined the Company for a season in 2018, worked for Transport for London for 40 years and moved to Cornwall to retire.
He said: “My previous job was 24/7 and although I’d retired, I found going from that to zero quite hard, so I joined in a seasonal role and became Passenger Relations Manager three years later.
“Being part of the team is my favourite part of the job. The attitude and work ethic of the whole team is brilliant, they’re
Our customers are at the heart of everything share some of our recent comments with to all our employees for making these
I spoke to one of your colleagues this morning named Debbie and I just wanted to let you know how brilliant she was. I called 15 minutes before my sailing to advise I was ill with a sickness bug and could not make it and see if there was any chance of switching the date, albeit with little hope given the timing.
Debbie advised that I was down as a no show on the system but asked if I could leave it with her whilst she discussed with her manager. She called me back half an hour later and helped me rearrange the booking. S It was a real highlight of our trip to visit Scilly and to miss it due to illness was gutting but thanks to Debbie and your team I can still make it.
Debbie went completely above and beyond for me and my family, she is a real credit to you. Thank you, Debbie it is very much appreciated.
Diane, thank you so much! I really do not know what I would have done without your help last night. You are an amazing person - a credit to the company you work for, a fantastic mum and an unbelievable human.
I just wanted to say that your website is the most informative and useful travel website I’ve ever seen.
We had the absolute pleasure of meeting Victoria when 98 Perranporth Blue Tits descended on the islands for the day to swim. Everyone on Scillonian was so lovely and we can’t thank them enough for making our journey even more memorable.
To Douglas and the rest of the Skybus team, you are amazing! Thank you for reuniting me with my glasses.
We had two passengers arrive at the office today a Mrs Blackmur and her daughter. They arrived with boxes of biscuits and cakes. They wanted to thank the team for all the efforts we have made to get their family over to the islands today. They said we had really helped them out and how friendly the Travel Centre team was, when the helicopter service has let them down.
everything we do and we’re delighted to with you here. A big thank you, as always, these comments so commonplace.
I would just like you to extend our thanks to your representative who kindly helped us and went above and beyond with our car that had a flat battery. He kindly took me and our luggage to the car park and waited with us, making tea, whilst we waited for the AA. Most helpful, great service!
We just wanted to write to say a big big, thank you to everyone at IoS Travel. Starting with Ian at the booking office, he has great customer service skills, a very helpful and friendly attitude, giving us sound honest advice, about our travel plans, and arranging them for us.
To everyone at Land’s End and St Mary’s airports, especially the lady and gentlemen that were trying to deal with the chaos that was ensuing after Scillonian had been cancelled and a lot of flights delayed, added to that numerous agitated visitors. They were both really kind, helpful and polite, and managed to get us out on a flight that afternoon. To us that was a Godsend, we were extremely grateful to them.
Lastly Douglas at St Mary’s airport on our return, who was also really helpful, and again managed to jiggle our flights around a bit, so we got off the island that day, as again weather not great.
Once again thank you everyone at IoS Travel for making our much-loved trip to the Isles of Scilly possible, we look forward to coming again next year.
We were booked on a flight from Land’s End to St Mary’s on May 9th when the airport was shrouded in fog, and thunder and lightning was rolling over our heads. Sadly our flight was cancelled and we were immediately booked on the 10:45 the following day.
I would just like to say how impressed I was with your customer service. Within seconds of the cancellation being announced over the airport tannoy, one of your representatives had us booked for the following day.
It’s when things don’t go to plan that you find out how good a company’s customer service is, and I have to say your teams proved to be very good indeed and made the whole process as stressless as possible. Hence, I would like to register a big thank you to your teams for looking after us so well.
I received an email from the marketing team back in January asking if I would look to work with them and receive a day trip to the Isles of Scilly with Isles of Scilly Travel. They explained what was on offer for our trip in great detail, advised on what activities we would be able to partake in and where we could go. The deliverables of the campaign were clearly explained and information was sent in advance so I could be prepared for what content I would need to produce.
Throughout our exchanges everyone was friendly and professional, always replied quickly and were able to answer my questions. Even when we were on the Isles of Scilly, Zoe was able to answer me at very short notice. The team made the whole process smooth and enjoyable.
13 students aged 14 and 15 from schools as far afield as Newquay, Truro and Plympton spent the week experiencing how the Company operates in its vision to deliver for Scilly. They spent time with each department – including the Travel Centre, accounts, freight, Gry Maritha, Skybus engineering, fire, passenger handling, marketing and air traffic control - learning what the teams do to support our operation.
The highlight of the week was undoubtedly the day trip to the islands, where the students had the chance to travel to St Mary’s on Scillonian III.
We had to be flexible – to suit both our operations and the weather – which was tested when we had to reschedule the day trip to the islands and the students weren’t able to fly back on Skybus as we had hoped.
But they were able to witness the hard work our team of stewards undertake in ensuring the welfare of our passengers.
Amanda Pratley, HR Advisor, said:
“
We have attended many careers fairs at local schools and colleges and it was apparent that many of the students had little or no idea what our Company does, about our mission to deliver for Scilly or the very varied array of careers we have to offer.
As one of the area’s largest employers, I think it is important to showcase what we do and hopefully inspire some of the students to join us in the future.”
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for sharing their enthusiasm, knowledge and expertise with the students and for making it an inspiring and memorable event for all involved.
“Thank you for a really good work experience. It’s opened me up to other fields of work that I hadn’t considered yet.” – Otto
“Thank you for looking into something for Sam as he missed today, and for a great week. Sam has loved it.” – Sam’s dad
“Just wanted to say thank you for putting together work experience. I had such a good week and am really interested in doing an apprenticeship with ISSG.” - Rubie
“I just wanted to thank you so much for Ethan’s work experience. He has come home every night excited about what he has done.” – Ethan’s mum
A teenager who dreams of becoming a pilot was treated to a surprise tour of Land’s End Airport in May.
Theo Riley, 13, sat in the cockpit of an Islander and visited Air Traffic Control during the visit, which was arranged by his grandfather Ivan Whitmore during his half-term break. He said: “It was a fantastic visit and I learnt so much about what happens at an airport. Everyone was very kind and welcoming, especially Ian.
“I hadn’t realised what an important lifeline the airport and all its staff are to the Isles of Scilly. It’s clear that all the people living on the islands really benefit from the air service, and my next ambition is to return to the airport and take a flight to the islands themselves.”
Theo has a passion for aviation and wants to train to be a pilot after education. He’d recently received an old book on air traffic control and plays an online game allowing players to be the ATC controller or a pilot responding to ATC in the air and on the ground.
He’d been discussing this with his grandfather, Ivan, who secretly arranged the visit to Land’s End Airport.
Ivan added: “The visit was a complete success, very enjoyable and something that Theo will never forget I am sure.
“He had never been in a control tower before and found it quite fascinating. He was very lucky that one of the pilots was in the hangar and talked Theo through all of the controls and instruments. Another highlight was a trip over to one of the runways in mobile 1 with Ian Dewdney to watch and photograph a plane taking off.
“We’d like to say a big thank you to Chris Pearson for his kind co-operation and the enthusiastic and fascinating tour that Ian Dewdney gave us.”
Four members of the maritime team were recently able to attend the Maritime Simulation Laboratory based at Plymouth University.
The Maritime Simulation Laboratory includes a Kongberg K-Sim simulator, where the university team can simulate, test and optimise marine operations.
For the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, this meant allowing the team some time within the simulator, navigating a vessel across the Strait of Dover, before making a port approach into Calais.
The team was also given time manoeuvring a vessel within Europoort, whereby they were able to attempt different manoeuvres within a controlled condition, putting different theories into practice in a safe environment.
As we continue to move closer to our newbuild vessels, it is important to keep the crew’s knowledge and experience current with best practice and modern equipment.
Seb Chilvers and five friends had travelled to Scilly on holiday on board two vessels – a 7m RIB and a speedboat – but were left in difficulty when the RIB developed engine problems which couldn’t be fixed and the weather took a turn.
St Mary’s Quay Manager James Squire arranged for both boats to be craned onto Gry Maritha to be transported back to Penzance with their respective crews on July 2nd.
He also organised water taxis, borrowed trailers and sorted an extra night’s accommodation – perfectly demonstrating our dedication to providing excellent customer service.
In a thank you letter to the Company, Seb wrote: “They saved our adventure and transformed a difficult passage in small boats into an extraordinary adventure ending. I can’t help but feel a profound sense of gratitude for the unforgettable experiences shared with Captain Jack Glasson and his extraordinary crew.
“From the moment I stepped foot on board, I knew I was in for a thrilling maritime experience like no other. Captain Jack’s unwavering passion for the sea
was evident in every aspect of the voyage. His extensive knowledge and expertise in navigation and seamanship instilled confidence and a sense of security among us. It was clear that safety was paramount to Captain Jack and his crew as he welcomed us on board, including our family dog.
“The Gry Maritha itself is a vessel of extraordinary age and maybe not beauty, but functionality, meticulously maintained by her crew. The spacious crew quarters were cosy, offering stunning views of the rear cargo deck and our two vessels aboard her cargo deck.
“What truly set this voyage apart was the crew’s unwavering dedication to customer satisfaction. Every crew member exuded warmth, friendliness, and an eagerness to make our trip truly unforgettable. They were always at hand, ready to address any request and answer our many questions, or simply engage in delightful conversations about their experiences at sea.
“Captain Jack’s crew went above and beyond in creating an enchanting atmosphere on board. They organised a plethora of engaging activities, including
captivating storytelling, engaging maritime trivia, and mesmerising wildlife spotting off the bow (mainly dolphins). Their passion for the marine environment was contagious, leaving us with a newfound appreciation for the wonders this stretch of water around Land’s End holds.
“The culinary delights served on board the Gry Maritha were nothing short of exceptional, given the facilities. The onboard chef skilfully prepared a dish out of nowhere. It was a delightful gastronomic adventure that surpassed all expectations for a commercial vessel.
“As our journey neared the end, Captain Jack manoeuvred the mighty vessel through the smallest of entrances in adversely strong cross-wind conditions and performed a pirouette in the tightest of spaces, further demonstrating his skill in command. I couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of gratitude for the unforgettable experiences shared with Captain Jack and his extraordinary crew.”
He also thanked James Squire and Kelly Wood on St Mary’s for their help.