00:00:04:04 – 00:00:05:01
My name is George.

00:00:05:01 – 00:00:09:10
I’m the operations manager at Westfield London, looking after guest services,

00:00:09:10 – 00:00:10:11
car parks and reception.

00:00:13:15 – 00:00:16:23
I am looking after the operation, which includes the guest services.

00:00:16:23 – 00:00:20:04
We have three guest services desks in the centre.

00:00:21:00 – 00:00:22:02
The car park operation –

00:00:22:02 – 00:00:24:16
we have three car parks –

00:00:24:16 – 00:00:28:01
and the reception team, where is the head office.

00:00:28:01 – 00:00:31:02
On a daily basis, we have to deal with complaints,

00:00:31:14 – 00:00:35:08
and we try to find the best solution – basically turn the situation

00:00:35:08 – 00:00:37:10
around to have a positive experience for them.

00:00:40:05 – 00:00:42:10
Skills and strengths –

00:00:42:10 – 00:00:45:13
quick thinking, problem solving, and

00:00:46:06 – 00:00:47:07
a good relationship with a team.

00:00:50:16 – 00:00:51:13
I went to school in Greece.

00:00:51:13 – 00:00:53:00
After school,

00:00:53:00 – 00:00:56:15
I wanted to become a police officer, but I had a motorbike accident.

00:00:56:24 – 00:01:02:11
And my family was really worried, and despite being my first choice,

00:01:04:02 – 00:01:07:01
I went to my third choice, which was economics.

00:01:07:01 – 00:01:10:21
I joined university and studied economics for four years

00:01:11:24 – 00:01:14:24
and it was a great lesson for me,

00:01:15:03 – 00:01:18:03
even if I didn’t

00:01:18:06 – 00:01:21:14
follow this career. My family in Greece run a

00:01:22:02 – 00:01:26:04
restaurant. From very little I was around helping out my family

00:01:26:17 – 00:01:30:24
and then I did other jobs. Most of my roles I would say were about,

00:01:31:06 – 00:01:34:16
hospitality – working in restaurants, bars

00:01:35:23 – 00:01:37:03
and within the sector.

00:01:37:03 – 00:01:39:10
So it’s really important to communicate with

00:01:39:10 – 00:01:42:10
all the tourists that are coming, different

00:01:43:01 – 00:01:43:15
cultures.

00:01:43:15 – 00:01:45:24
So learning

00:01:45:24 – 00:01:49:00
different languages like English, Spanish

00:01:49:00 – 00:01:52:13
and French, really helped me settle in London.

00:01:53:05 – 00:01:56:05
I’d say once I finished university –

00:01:56:22 – 00:01:58:11
there were a lot of promises

00:01:58:11 – 00:02:01:08
when I was at uni, “Oh, don’t worry,

00:02:01:08 – 00:02:04:08
when you’re going to finish university we’re going to help you find a role,”

00:02:05:23 – 00:02:08:23
according to what I had studied.

00:02:09:03 – 00:02:10:20
However, this was never the case,

00:02:10:20 – 00:02:15:15
and when I realised that in a business environment

00:02:15:15 – 00:02:18:15
you are by yourself, and you have to be your own tutor,

00:02:18:16 – 00:02:19:23
this is what helped me

00:02:19:23 – 00:02:21:20
make the decision to come in the UK.

00:02:21:20 – 00:02:26:20
So I arrived in the UK 13 years ago with the aim to stay for three months.

00:02:27:20 – 00:02:31:20
However, I’ve been here for 13 years now and

00:02:32:24 – 00:02:35:24
I have worked in restaurants, bars,

00:02:36:00 – 00:02:39:00
and the opportunity for Westfield was given to me.

00:02:39:00 – 00:02:43:20
I started as a Christmas temp and then I joined the guest services team,

00:02:45:05 – 00:02:48:05
worked for two years on the floor.

00:02:48:05 – 00:02:51:05
And then I was offered the supervisor position

00:02:51:21 – 00:02:54:17
which within one month led to a managerial role.

00:02:54:17 – 00:02:59:22
I was a team manager for guest services, and then my next role

00:02:59:22 – 00:03:02:22
was the operations manager for guest services.

00:03:03:13 – 00:03:08:02
And the latest one was being promoted to

00:03:08:15 – 00:03:11:24
the operations manager for car parks, guest services and reception.

00:03:14:16 – 00:03:15:20
My advice is to

00:03:15:20 – 00:03:20:10
trust your instinct, accept the challenges and keep the relationships

00:03:20:10 – 00:03:21:21
you keep throughout your career.