Six Professionals Mark 10 Years of Service

Media Release from Novotel Gardens Queenstown
April 2 2007

Six Professionals Mark 10 Years of Service

Six hospitality professionals are raising the bar for Queenstown’s transient workforce by each celebrating 10 years of service with the Accor group of hotels.

Queenstowners Wendy Standish, Novotel Gardens Human Resources (HR) coordinator, Lynne McVicar, St Moritz General Manager (GM), Avi Yockay, St Moritz Executive Chef, Graeme Taylor St Moritz Engineer, Fraser McKenzie, Mercure Resort GM and Catherine Monaghan, Mercure Resort HR Manager, have marked a decade of commitment to the leading hotel company.

“I never thought 10 years ago that I’d still be here today,” said Standish, 40.

Working alongside Novotel Gardens General Manager Carl Braddock for eight years, Standish said their relationship had lasted longer than some marriages.

Standish started work as executive housekeeper with Novotel Queenstown in Fernhill in 1997 – now the Mercure Resort Queenstown – moving to a re-branded Novotel Gardens, previously Gardens Parkroyal, in 2003.

Standish has trained up to 600 employees in the past decade at Novotel Gardens, soon to be Queenstown’s biggest hotel with 273 rooms when an $11.5 million expansion and refurbishment is complete at the end of this year.

She’s witnessed big changes in 10 years of hospitality in Queenstown, none bigger than a new fast-track method of lodging foreign visa applications, making her job of training and recruiting 80 staff at Novotel Gardens much easier.

Plans for 10th anniversary celebrations have been postponed for now.

“It’s been such a busy season for us all but we plan to have a celebration when things settle down,” Standish said.

Lynne McVicar started with Accor as Executive Assistant Manager and Financial Controller following the takeover and re-brand of Holiday Inn Resort Queenstown to Novotel Queenstown in 1997. McVicar was appointed pre-opening General Manager of Grand Mercure St Moritz later that year – a role she’s thrived on since.

“It was an exciting time,” says McVicar. “Accor then and now is a dynamic company and the speed of growth and resources available to their hotels and staff are truly what make it a leading company.”

ENDS

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