MAGAZINE OF THE ISLES OF SCILLY STEAMSHIP GROUP
Delivering for Scilly
Issue 2 | Autumn 2019
Saying Goodbye After nearly 20 years of service to the Steamship Group we say farewell to Tammy Matthews.
Community Fund Find out about how three projects are benefiting from round eight of this year’s community fund donation.
Changes to Skybus Find out why Skybus will be moving to a single fleet of Twin Otter Aircraft from March 2020.
Steamship St I S L E S O F S C I L LY
GROUP
Isles of Scilly
Delivering for Scilly
People Focus
Going the extra mile Community Fund
Turn to page 6 to find out how Ian reunited passengers with their luggage after the Scillonian breakdown.
Find out about the latest projects were supporting over on page 11.
Welcome to your new look Delivering for Scilly magazine Over the few weeks we have
End Airport. We have already
started to roll out our Mission,
seen flights landing at Land’s
Vision and Values across the
End Airport which would have
group. You will soon see various
previously had to divert to
posters and diagrams to show
Newquay. This is a significant
case how our values are being
development in our resilience
bought to life in our everyday
and reliability. Next month
operations. To reflect this, we
we will be speaking with our
have revamped your magazine
aviation teams to find out more
It has been an exciting and
(The Journey) to ‘Delivering for
about the process.
busy year for the Company and
Scilonian III had its final sailing
we would like to thank all our
on 4th November. Scillonian
employees for their hard work.
Our summer schedule for
is now in Penzance wet dock
Skybus has been completed and
and ship staff have started the
We look forward to celebrating
from 14th March 2020 we will
annual maintenance.
Scilly’ and we’re keen to hear your feedback.
be operating a single fleet of aircraft, Twin Otters - read about the full changes at skybus over on pages 4 & 5.
We have recently said farewell to Tammy Matthews, who has moved on to new adventures after nearly 20 years at the company. We wish her the best of luck over on page 10.
with you at this year’s Christmas Parties at St Ives Harbour Hotel
We’ll be fully inspecting the
for mainland and Old Town Inn
starboard engine to ensure there
for Scilly on the 14th December.
are no indications of failure after the technical breakdown, in
We are pleased to report that
August, which saw the Scillonian
Skybus are now using the
out of action for 4 days. Turn
GNSS approaches into Land’s
to page 8 to find out what we
Isles of Scilly Steamship Company Limited, Steamship House, Quay Street, Penzance Cornwall TR18 4BZ
T +44 (0) 1736 334240 marketing@islesofscilly-travel.co.uk
Delivering for Scilly is produced by Isles of Scilly Steamship Group inhouse communications team.
Editor Sharon Sandercock ssandercock@islesofscilly-travel.co.uk
Delivering for Scilly
learnt from this event.
And finally we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
With grateful thanks to all team members who’ve helped contribute articles and photos. Opinions expressed are the authors and not necessarily those of the company. Whilst every effort is made to ensure total accuracy Isles of Scilly Steamship Group cannot be help responsible for any errors or omissions within this magazine.
Island Carriers new website launched After 3 months of hardwork and dedication, we are very excited to announce the launch of our newly revamped Island Carrier’s website. The goal of the new design is to create a user-friendly browsing experience, so those visiting the website are able to find and learn
about the services Island Carriers offer. We hope you like the fresh new look, for any feedback please email marketing@issg.co.uk. Check out the new website:
www.island-carriers.co.uk
Scillonian’s 2019 Season The Scillonian sailing season has finished for 2019. We’ve had another great season reaching milestones and seeing some spectacular sights. In 2019, Scillonian made over 400 trips between Penzance and St Mary’s, covering 16,240 miles and in May we saw our 4.5 millionth ferry passenger. Our generous passengers gave in excess of £10,000 to charity collections and amongst some of our more well-known passengers were Oscar winners Kate Winslett and Dame Judy Dench.
Business update As the 2019 season comes to an end, we take a look at passenger numbers for the summer (Apr - Sep)
SKYBUS
SCILLONIAN
TOTAL
LEQ, NQY, EXT
Penzance
PASSENGERS
70,288
103,411
173,699
2019
2019
2019
70,505
110,593
181,098
2018
2018
2018
68,694
112,633
181,327
2017
2017
2017
Many cetaceans were spotted such as: pilot and minke whales; common, risso, and bottlenose dolphins; harbour porpoise, basking sharks and sunfish. Scillonian also passed many interesting vessels including The Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth and several submarines transiting between Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly. If you have a picture, you’d like to share with us, get in touch by using #TravelScilly
3
Skybus moving to single fleet of Twin Otter aircraft
operated to ensure we have a Author Stuart Reid | Cheif Executive Officer
robust and sustainable service going forwards, for the benefit of islanders and all those who use these routes.
We have started the process to move to operating a single fleet of Twin Otter aircraft on our Skybus routes to and from the islands. This follows our discussions at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on how best to improve the efficiency of the currently loss-making air services while maintaining schedules and providing a better experience for our customers. Delivering for Scilly
As detailed in our most recent annual report and at the AGM, the in efficiencies associated with maintaining and operating two different aircraft types – the Twin Otter and smaller Islander aircraft - contributed to the aviation side of the business losing more than £500,000 last year and represent an ongoing threat to the viability of the service. We also need to improve the way Skybus services are
As a result, from the 14th March 2020, all passenger air services to the Isles of Scilly will be operated by Skybus’s fleet of four Twin Otter aircraft, with Islander aircraft no longer used on passenger routes. A considerable amount of work in reviewing operations and forward planning has been done by the Skybus management team to ensure that a more
Transparency
efficient use of our Twin Otter
When combined these changes
While we understand that the
fleet can allow us to fly a
have already seen an
decision to move to a single Twin
schedule to fulfil the demand for
improvement in the financial
Otter fleet operating to the
the summer of 2020.
performance of Skybus and I’m
islands represents a considerable
We are in talks with stakeholders and users of air services, such as the NHS and Royal Mail, to
pleased to report that the first six months of trading are above budget.
change to the way services are operated, we believe doing so is essential to enable us to provide
discuss arrangements for
Group profitability is also above
an improved customer
services going forward.
budget for the first six months of
experience while allowing us to
As well as the move to a Twin Otter fleet, efficiencies are being implemented across the aviation
the year and our 12-month financial forecast is exceeding our financial profit target.
secure the future of the aviation side of the business, putting it on a firm financial footing, as a
business to reduce losses. This
The second half of the year is
robust, efficient and profitable
has included changes being
always challenging, as revenues
part of the company, going
made to discount rates to
decrease in the Winter months
increase revenue without
and so we all need to focus on
damaging market demand.
cost control over this period.
forward.
5
People Focus
Going the extra mile We caught up with Ian Tottle to find out how he helped reunite families with their luggage after the Scillonian brokedown. How was you involved? I organised the packing, loading and transportation of the luggage and camping equipment onto the Dry Dock lorry. This included tents, cool boxes, gas, etc. I then made the 600 mile round trip to London, it took 8 hours and involved an overnight stop but I was more than happy to help. How did the families respond? The first family were so happy to see me as they thought they would never see their 16 bags of camping equipment ever again. They told me they were seriously impressed after speaking to Debbie McGill in customer services, who had been instrumental in sorting everything out for them. Once I had carried all their luggage to their house the family thanked me and said they would be back again next year. How did you find the trip? The trip was very enjoyable from my point of view. I feel when we go the extra mile to help and listen to our customers, they really appreciate it and it helps bring back their custom as well as enhancing the company’s public image.
Delivering for Scilly
Collaboration
2019 Press Trips
Holly & Ben - Two Monkeys Travel
What is a press trip? A press trip is essentially a trip
Suzi Grant - Alternative Ageing
Charli Moore - Wanderlusters
which contained a selection of
encourage people to visit
products all made on Scilly.
throughout the year • Raise awareness of Skybus &
we organise or help with for a
Scillonian to new audiences in
journalist to come and visit Scilly
key target markets
and in return they will write about their experience. These
Who we worked with...
features tend to be published in top tier travel publications and
In 2019 we have organised 14
online channels. They provide
press trips and have supported
a good way to gain positive
a further 12. Here’s a selection of
coverage and exposure for the
articles from this year:
islands and Isles of Scilly Travel.
• https://twomonkeystravelgroup. com/scilly-camping-england/
2019 Press Trips
The idea behind the mailout is
Our 2019 campaign was
to inspire journalists to visit to
article/cornwalls-caribbean-a-
launched in December 2018 with
help with these key objectives:
family-escape-to-the-isles-of-
a media mailout to 67 key top
• Overcome the misconception
tier travel journalists, bloggers and influencers. The mailout consisted of a press pack, an invitation and a gift,
that Scilly is hard to get to • Improve awareness of where the islands are geographically
• https://www.thetimes.co.uk/
scilly-vsf2wqwsv • https://wanderlusters.com/my-7day-isles-of-scilly-itinerary/ • https://www.alternativeageing. net/blog/2019/4/24/the-isles-ofscilly-flora-fauna-amp-food
• Promote seasonality to 7
Scillonian III Wednesday 28th August to Sunday 1st September 2019 On the 28th August Scillonian III experienced a double engine failure. We look at what this emergency situation has taught us and what we need to look at to improve our procedures moving forward.
Delivering for Scilly
Transparency
What we did well
What we are improving
• We released the initial information quickly, so people were aware from an early stage that there was an issue.
• Scillonian
• The travel updates being released from Saturday onwards were also stating a time for the next update to keep passengers informed. • We prioritised passengers with extenuating circumstances. • We used the Gry Maritha to help transport luggage for passengers who had been transferred to Skybus. • The personal efforts of all employees to fix the situation and help passengers. • To help minimise disruption we added additional Skybus flights to move passengers quickly.
We have improved and implemented new disruption procedures since the incident for Scillonian III. • Our Telephone system We are currently reviewing a new cloud based telephone. By moving to a cloud solution it will allow improve our customer experience. It will allow us to easily scale up or down the number of telephone users in the travel centre to continually meet the demands of our customers. We’ll also be able to set up our own announcements quickly to inform customers as soon as they ring us if we are experiencing high volumes of calls and the reason why.
9
Long Service We would like to congratulate
Saying
the following members of staff on reaching these important year milestones:
Goodbye
After nearly 20 years of
instrumental in the growth of
amazing service to the
the group bookings market for
Steamship Group we say
the company.
farewell to Tammy Matthews.
Tammy’s last day was on
Tammy has left the Travel
Friday 29th November, but she
Centre to take up a new role
will be attending the Christmas
with a software company in
Party if you would like to say
Redruth.
your goodbyes to her then.
She has been a critical part of
We wish Tammy all the very
the Travel Centre operation
best and luck in her new
in Penzance and has been
adventure.
Happy Retirement After 8 years working for the company we said goodbye to Dave Allen at the end of October. Since joining, Dave has driven the improvements in our marine safety management system & ensuring we maintain our high standards of compliance with the Marine and Coastguard Agency. We wish Dave all the very best for the future.
Delivering for Scilly
35 Years • Pete Crawford 30 Years • Stephen George • Debbie Hunt 25 Years • Mick Yould • Matt Nicholls 20 Years • Richard Ashby • Chris Pearson • Keith Elson • Lee Bailey 15 Years • Simon Guy • Paul Ellis • Marcia Hoare • Chris Sabine • Dave Redgrave 10 Years • Joe Short • Mark Hillier • Rob Calveley • Olly Drew • Micky Murley • Paul Ramsey • Dan Reynolds • Lee Sandford
Community Fund Latest News
Community
Find out how you can apply for the last round of 2019 and read about some of the latest projects to benefit from round eight of our Community Fund.
Apply For Round Nine
Scilly Folk Festival
Do you know of a good cause? Round 9 is currently open for applications and submissions close on Monday 30th December 2019. To apply head over to our website for more details and to download an application forms.
We donated £1,113 to allow the folk club to buy new professional sound equipment, including a mixing desk and PA system.
www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk /community-fund-apply/
The better kit will mean more visiting bands will be attracted to perform at the festival as they won’t need to transport their own equipment. The seventh annual Scilly Folk Festival will take place from 21-26 May 2020.
Drama Express
Five Islands Academy Football Team
Drama Express specialises in bringing performing art to children and young people with additional needs.
We provided return tickets on the Scillonian for the whole team and supporting adults, so they could take part in the ESFA Small Schools Football Tournament held in Truro.
We have donated £950 so they can develop a script and range of characters for a new production celebrating our centenary anniversary. This will be performed by children from the islands on Scilly next year.
The team were magnificent and won the competition without conceding a single goal. They now move onto the regional finals to be held in Bristol in March next year.
11
Excellence
Customer
We are so pleased when our customers so we thought we’ d share some of the My family and I would like to express our enormous gratitude to all the staff at Skybus and Lands End airport for turning a very stressful situation into a happy ending. On 15th of August our daughter Kate and her boyfriend Harry were stranded at Land’s End Airport due to our booking error, essentially we had booked the flights the wrong way round. We were already on St Mary’s awaiting their arrival when we got the phone call to say there was a problem. After a long day sat waiting you eventually got them both to St Mary’s on separate flights. Logistically this must have been difficult for yourselves but managed and did us proud. Once again a huge thanks.
I’d like to thank you for your great service and help getting my bag back. I am very happy to be reunited with my favourite cuddly Toy. Hope to see you next year.
My family and I were on the Scillonian last Friday 9th August. sailing from St Mary’s to Penzance. Obviously the crossing was rough because of the weather, but we would like to thank the crew for getting us back to Penzance safely in such challenging conditions. Even though the boat was pitching and rolling we felt safe. Whilst we were on the Scilly’s you kept us constantly informed so we new exactly where we were. Over the years we have sailed on the Scillonian quite a few times, we have always been looked after and things have always run smoothly.
Could you please pass this email on to the concerned parties at St Mary’s airport. We were due to fly out of St Mary’s on the 7th September but my wife was taken Ill just before the flight and after the paramedics came she had to be moved to hospital. Emma organised for our flights to be rearranged for the Monday afternoon, and the staff were so caring and assisting throughout this period. We are eternally grateful for all your support, above and beyond the call of duty.
Delivering for Scilly
We wanted to send a huge thank team who helped us get home o broke his arm and wrist the day b And then ship all our camping ge on in a van to us today in South W received it all and are so very gra such a difficult situation, we foun Scilly and in Penzance so extrem to all concerned. With our best w year!
My wife and I were due to sail to September this year , but unfortu only her second time in forty odd
Your company and staff were soo hundreds of others safely sorted following day from Lands End w as I don’t really do flying and also Once the pilot of the plane realis right behind him in one of those a spare head set and plugged it could hear ! What a difference th he was from Truro and married to out who he is , please convey my cap it all you were able to get us which meant we didn’t miss a da to a hotel on St Mary’s for our las really as we had just had a weeks
We can’t thank the company eno and friendly manner in which eve
We have travelled to Scilly for ma married over there and hope to t many more to come! See you nex
Feedback
s give us feedback - it means a lot to us, most recent comments we’ve received.
k you to you and the whole on the Skybus as my husband before we were due to leave. ear to Penzance and send it West London. We have just ateful for this service. Even with nd all the staff we dealt with in mely helpful. Please pass this on wishes and see you again next
o the Scillies on Friday 6th unately the ship broke down for d years!
oo helpful in getting us , and d ! We were asked to fly out the which was quite traumatic for me o suffer from Tinnitus ! BUT . sed my predicament ( I was sat little 8 seater’s! ) he passed me in so that he could chat and I hat made ! All I remember is that to a Scillonion girl ! If you find y best wishes and thanks . To s on the Saturday sailing back ay of our holiday ! We booked in st night , which was quite lovely s self catering on St Agnes !!
ough for the professionalism erything was handled!
any years now and even got travel with your company for ext year.
We want to thank you for the part you and your team played in helping us get away from St Mary’s in the immediate aftermath of the Scillonian’s breakdown last week. Among the hundreds I hardly expect you to recall me and my wife. We met you and your colleagues on the morning of Thursday August 29 when you were loading and reloading baggage in containers at the town end of the Quay building. The news of our flight came in at about 11.15am, giving us just time to ring you to load our bags into the crate by 11.30am for the freight boat. You and the team were models of patience, helpfulness and even good spirits – we were eventually spirited off by Skybus later that day and reunited with our nine bags at 5.45pm in Penzance off the Gry. Thanks a lot to you all – all God’s best to you as the season continues to its end. I believe the boat is finally back in order and service.
I am writing to highlight the incredible job one of your staff does with such an amazingly caring attitude. I apologise for not knowing the man’s name but when I say “the curly haired steward on the Scillonian” you will know who I mean ,as when we spoke to many people, they all knew who we meant. His caring ways (dealing with my sea sick wife and a potentially a more seriously ill older lady) were a joy to see .His attitude as soon as we stepped onto the Scillonian was a massive compliment to your company.
Whilst on holiday my son, broke his ankle. We were expecting a rather awkward and eventful journey back to Penzance. This is where your company comes in, you arranged for a wheelchair on the quay at St. Mary’s and Penzance. The help and assistance we received was unbelievable and made our journey very easy and enjoyable. I would like to thank all of your staff for the help they gave us, you should be very proud of them.
13
People Focus
Work Experience Did you know we offer a variety of work experience placements across the company for students? Adam was recently with us and he’s written about his time with Skybus Engineering at Land’s End Airport. Being part of Land’s End Airport aircraft engineering crew was amazing! I was hands on, learning how to repair and maintain the light aircraft that is used mostly for tourism flights to and around the Scilly Isles. Initially, I was introduced to the Airport Manager, Chris and the Hangar Foreman, Andrew. Andrew gave me a brief rundown of the facilities and health and safety. I was walked through important pre-flight checks on an aircraft as well as teaching me how to marshal an aircraft, a truly exhilarating experience! Throughout the week, I observed and shadowed the work of a fully trained and Delivering for Scilly
licenced engineer undertaking many tasks such as: • Carrying out a 50, 100 and 200 hundred hours flight service on several aircraft. • How to do basic wear and tear checks on aircraft engines and replaced main components such as spark plugs and oil filters. I also got shown how they inspected an engine with a miniature camera called a Borescope. This allows the engineer to check the inside of the engine without having to take it apart. Once completed, we took the aircraft onto the airstrip and washed out the engine with a specially formatted detergent.
The engineers also had a surprise for me... to sit with the pilot on an actual flight around the Islands and experience the plane on a whole new level, literally! This was a great end to the exciting week at the airport. Work experience was more rewarding than I had expected. I was treated like a part of the team and was allowed to get my hands dirty and really get Work Experience. I now have a clearer insight into aircraft engineering and good idea of my future career path! Adam Colban - Aged 15, Camborne Science and International Academy