“It’s cliché to say but it’s such a good place to be”: An Interview with Rachael Anderson-Smith

Interviewed in Oct, 2018

‘Passionate, Professional, Personable.’ That’s our motto here at Rapid Travel Group. We’re passionate about what we do. We always work in a professional way. And, as you’ll discover when you book your business accommodation with us, we go to great lengths to make sure there’s always a person on the end of the phone, not some automated robot.

So, to help you get to know even more about the people behind Rapid Travel Group, we’ve put together a special series of interviews that dig a little deeper into what motivates us to help you save time and money and make working away feel that little bit closer to home.

In the hot seat today we have Rachael Anderson-Smith who makes sure everyone in the team has the support they need to best serve our clients. We drop in on the conversation with Rachael revealing the moment she knew Rapid Travel Group wasn’t quite a ‘normal’ company:

RACHAEL: Ordering capes.

RAPID: What? Ha. That’s when you knew something was weird?

RACHAEL: Yeah. It was for the Business Hive Challenge day so as the main sponsors we wanted to do something a little different. I think it was Karl who suggested we dress as superheroes. So… I was tasked with ordering capes which made some very interesting telephone conversations. It was funny though. And they went down very well at the event.

RAPID: When you’re not ordering superhero capes, what do you usually get up to at Rapid?

RACHAEL: Hmm. What don’t I do?

I guess I cover a bit of everything these days.

I try to make sure all the different departments have everything they need. Officially I’m HR but I also take care of a lot of training too.

But if something needs sorting, I’ll have my hand in the air volunteering.

RAPID: You were actually employee number one, right?

RACHAEL: I was. Was it 2013? I’ve been here ever since and wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s a great place to work. I know that’s cliché to say, but it’s such a nice place to be.

RAPID: That’s great when you have a job like that. But what did you think you’d end up doing when you were younger?

RACHAEL: A vet. That was my dream. Until the horse incident!

RAPID: The horse incident?

RACHAEL: Ha. Yeah. It’s not the nicest thing to talk about. But I always remember a vet coming to look after one of my horses and having too, er…put their hand up the horse’s…

Well, you get the idea.

RAPID: Haha. Brilliant. I can see why that might put you off such a career choice. Business accommodation is slightly less, shall we say, ‘physical’.

RACHAEL: It is. But it’s a lot of fun. As I say, I love coming to work each day. In that respect, you can hardly call it ‘work’ here.

Everyone is great and really motivated, were lucky enough to have an incredible team. And seeing the business grow is so nice. It’s great to be able to implement ideas that help improve things for our clients.

RAPID: That’s good. On the flipside, what are the biggest challenges you tend to face?

RACHAEL: Implementing new ideas can be tough when it comes to pleasing everyone. It can be a challenge sometimes.

With having three directors – Linda, Karl and Rebecca. it can be very hectic to ensure new ideas run efficiently across all the departments within Rapid which involves a lot of testing behind the scenes

It’s great because they all bounce off each other and that spirit runs right through the whole team…

But it forces us to make sure we’re always communicating effectively and making sure we’re all working in the same direction.

That’s where I try to help, bringing everything together so they can make it all work.

RAPID: And it’s the team that makes it for you, right?

RACHAEL: Totally.

As part of my role, I’m often the one who’s responsible for introducing new people to the team and training them initially, so it’s always important to get them feeling a part of things here.

I think the team works so well because we know when to have fun but we know when it’s time to get our heads down and get the work done too.

I guess the great feedback we get from our clients is a testament to that.

RAPID: Definitely. It’s working so far and as more and more people discover how Rapid Travel Group can help them, it’s great to see that positive vibe spread.

Hmm. We haven’t asked you your favourite film yet, what are you going for?

RACHAEL: That’s so tough. I’m not sure.

RAPID: What’s the first one that comes to mind?

RACHAEL: Honestly. I’d say Gone in 60 Seconds.

RAPID: Nice. Nothing wrong with a bit of Nic Cage.

RACHAEL: It’s one of those easy to watch films. It’s on I can just sit there and enjoy it. Even though I’ve seen it too many times now.

RAPID: Perfect. Hey, we know you’re busy so we won’t keep you any longer. Thanks so much for your time today and for answering our questions.

RACHAEL: No problem. It’s great to be able to share more about what we do behind the scenes here at Rapid. I hope people enjoy reading.

And there we have it…

Before we can say another word, the phone is ringing again and Rachael smiles apologetically and goes to answer it. It never stops here at Rapid Travel Group and everyone is always rushing to make sure our customers never wait.

So, before booking your next work trip, why not get in touch with us first to see how we could help. You can call us direct on 0330 090 41 42 or email info@rapidtravelgroup.com.

Or book an appointment below!

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