Shenanigans in Skegness

Back in the day, when the high street was dominated by the big vertically integrated retailers – Going Places, First Choice Hypermarkets, Thomas Cook and Lunn Poly – the number of travel agents employed by those four businesses alone added up to about 25,000.  That’s a lot of travel agents, and with attrition running at 25%, over 6,000 people needed to be recruited every year!  And the only way to get anywhere near to those numbers was to zone in on the government sponsored youth employment schemes.

The names of the schemes changed as the years rolled by – from the Youth Opportunities Scheme (YOP), to the Youth Training Scheme (YTS), to Modern Apprentice (MA) – but the process each year was the same; target as many sixteen year-old school leavers as possible and take them through a combination of in-house training and work experience, turning the majority of them into smart, professional, travel agents with a passion for the job that would see many of them build long and successful careers in the industry.

I remember presenting at a Modern Apprentice Conference in Butlins Skegness in the mid-nineties.  Haven Holidays bussed in over a thousand sixteen-year-olds from all corners of the country in a fleet of nearly thirty buses. For many this was their first time away from home without their parents. Unfortunately, the venue had been used the weekend before for a Club 18-30 reunion party, so the smell of stale beer, cigarettes and vomit still lingered, but the rules for the MAs were clearly laid out in advance of the trip: no alcohol, no drugs and strictly no shenanigans. We knew it was hopelessly optimistic to expect everyone to comply, but the threat of instant dismissal should have persuaded most to toe the line.

The second night of the conference was traditionally ‘party night’ when the generous supplier sponsorship a supported a nice dinner, a B-list band (think Liberty X or 911) and a free bar – with soft drinks only!  The evening ended at 10:30 with a ‘back in your chalet’ curfew of 11 0’clock. 

The senior management patrol party, dressed in Hi-Viz and carrying 4-battery rubber torches, set off to check the grounds around midnight.  At first it was hard to decide exactly where the giggling and groaning was coming from, but it didn’t take long for the night patrol to track it to the direction of the coach park.  Torches were extinguished and the management team crept forward towards the long line of buses expecting to catch the culprits hiding in the shadows. 

The noises grew louder but still nobody appeared.  And then it all became clear… the noises were coming from underneath the buses.  The torches came on all together, aimed low along the ground.  The cumulative energy generated by 48 Duracell+ D batteries is impressive, as was the number of juveniles staring back, eyes squinting, into the bright lights. It was like an inspection light had been turned on over an MOT inspection pit revealing a throng of snogging kids.

After a cartoon length pause during which both parties struggled to make sense of what they were seeing, all hell broke loose.  Small groups of dishevelled kids dispersed in every direction, some trailing items of clothing behind as they sprinted for the cover of the chalet blocks.  Their pursuers, twice their age and more used to their desk-bound day jobs had no chance – the escape rate was 100%. 

It was left to the Sales Director to take to the conference stage the next morning, trying hard to play the part of the disappointed head teacher, reminding everyone of their responsibilities, not helped by the rest of the management team holding back tears of laughter in the front row.

Thirty years later, those MA’s are now in their mid-forties and many (the majority I think) will have gone on to have successful careers in travel, typically staying with the big travel brand for a decade or so, then finding career progression with an independent agent, or a tour operator, or a cruise line.

So, there’s a good chance that someone you know - maybe your boss, maybe your ever-so-sensible colleague – was at that conference.  And if so, there’s about a one in ten chance that they started their travel career being chased out from underneath a Haven Coach at midnight in Skegness with their jeans trailing in the wind. 

And if it’s not someone you know, then maybe it’s you?