TBK travels- So what will you do here in The Philippines?

In the garden at old hose in the UK which I sold in 2004

That is the one question I get asked over and over. Do you want a job? Will you invest in my business? The answer is NO! I am coming to the Philippines to retire and rest.

Let me take you back to 1976 when I was 16 and first started work at the Dudley Hotel in Hove, UK. I was on a school work experience (what the Pinoys call OJT) and liked it so much I worked there every vacation during school and University. Once I completed my degree in Hotel management at the University of Huddersfield I started as an Executive Management Trainee with Trust house forte Hotels in 1982. By 1984 I was Assistant Manager ( Personnel & Training ) at Chester Post House Hotel.


Neil at Chester Post Hose in 1984

In 1986 I became Personnel & Training officer for a chain of 350 restaurants in the UK called Little Chef. I ended up being Senior Training Officer there and that meant traveling the UK spending time developing our 13 Training Officers. I used to have a red Sierra Estate car and took my dog Trixie with me for company!

In disguise for mystery diner visits in Scotland!

In 1996 I moved to a new roles heading up the Training function at Business Post, a 62 location parcel delivery company in the UK where, after 2 years, I gained the prestigious Investors in People award (IIP) .

I first headed to the Middle East in 2000 to work for Al Homaizi International in Kuwait and then returned to Bahrain in 2010 to be Senior Management Development Specialist for Bahrain Petroleum Company ( Bapco ) where I was for 11 years retiring on 14.2.21 to move to the Philippines. Sadly my move was delayed for a year by Cov 19!

Day one in Bapco , back in February 2010

In between Kuwait and Bahrain I ran my own business , Ssh Training, was Group Training Manager for Accor ( UK & Ireland Hotels ) and for Choice Hotels Europe . I was also with Environmental giants SITA and Veolia for 5 years each traveling the UK running IT, Health and Safety and ILM programmes.

One of the many times my company car was broken into in SITA

In 2009 another career highlight was becoming ILM Centre Manager at Veolia and getting the prestigious DCS1 quality rating form my then EV, Jim Mc Dermott.

A farewell from Steve and the team at VES Birmingham, with number one trainee, Scott, now a Manager!

I finally managed to repeat this in 2020 in Bahrain. Another great achievement for me in Bahrain was writing and running 30 ILM 2 programmes with over 500 successful candidates, and when Peter left Bapco I took over the ILM 3 programmes and ran 4 groups with other 70 successful candidates.

It was only in Bahrain that I managed to get home every night. In all the other roles I was away in hotels 3 or 4 nights a week and traveling huge distances around the UK and sometimes into Europe. So after 44 years at work without a break, having saved hard , I think I deserve a break.

I am looking forward to walking on the beach, swimming, using my PADI diving qualification by diving to see the coral reefs , reading, cooking, eating and, of course , my Blog and Vlog.

When I am back in the Philippines permanently I will be able to spend more time with the anaks I have sponsored for the last 5 years . I am also looking forward to helping Mama Jam and his family with the HOPE Charity ( see separate blog).

Who knows, I might even start singing again and record another charity CD with my old friend Gordon Kermode! Our last one, "A pair of Trainers", raised funds for the Prostate Cancer charity( I still have 500 copies of anyone wants one!)