Anne celebrates 30-year’s service at Ragdale Hall Spa

If you weren’t already aware, the year 2020 marks a very special year for Ragdale Hall Spa, as it celebrates its 30^th anniversary under current ownership.

This year at Ragdale, we’ll also be celebrating a whole host of milestone work anniversaries, including more than 100 members of our ‘family’ who have been at Ragdale for more than 15-years, and six members of the ‘family’ who have been at Ragdale for 30-years!

Last week, the team at Ragdale Hall Spa celebrated a very special work anniversary for Housekeeping assistant, Anne, who recently reached the landmark of 30-years as a member of Ragdale Hall staff.

Now based in Ragdale Hall’s Housekeeping team, Anne started at Ragdale as a part-time waitress back in 1990, just before it was taken over by current owners, Michael Isaacs and the Nesbitt family.

Anne’s eldest daughter was already working in the restaurant while studying and brought home an application form for her.  The newly-appointed Food and Beverage manager of the time, Hugh Wilson (now Managing Director), offered her a job and she started working at lunch times in the restaurant.

Anne remembers well the difference in the dining experience back then to what it is today.  “In those days, people came to Ragdale to lose weight so guests were limited to approximately 800 calories,” she said. “We served a lot of salad, and many people would ask me where they could get a bar of chocolate!”

As Anne’s children grew up, she took on more hours and eventually became a Coffee Bar Supervisor where she worked for many years. During that time, all four of her children worked at Ragdale, in various departments.

In 2009 Anne moved to the Housekeeping Department where she has been ever since.  But some things never change, and she is still keeping our guests well fed because, amongst many other tasks, she helps collect the breakfast menus and order all the food ready to be served the next morning.

So, what has kept Anne at Ragdale all these years? We’re very pleased to hear she believes it’s her colleagues. She also says working around quite a few young people keeps her feeling young herself!