I've been feeling bad about complaining over the snow ever since I saw a letter from an elderly lady in our local paper, telling people to stop moaning about the snow, that it doesn't last long, and that they should count their blessings.

She's got a point. So with the advent of fresh snow today and yesterday, although I'm furious that the ungritted roads put anyone who ventures outside in danger, I'll focus instead on the brilliant team spirit that pervaded holidayextras.com when we found ourselves snowed under today.

Our head office is near the coast, so we normally escape the worst of the icy weather. But this week we've possibly been worse affected by the white stuff than anywhere else in Kent.

After a steady fall all day yesterday, things got worse and worse until we woke to six inches of snow this morning. If you live in Hythe or Folkestone and weren't trapped in your road, you could consider yourself lucky.

In these circumstances, no-one can really be criticised for not coming into work - which made the efforts of people here all the more amazing. Half a dozen employees from Folkestone walked for an incredible two hours before being picked up by the CEO, Matt Pack, in a 4x4. He himself had driven for more than two-and-a-half hours to get to them.

But because so many people simply couldn't leave home, the office was badly short-staffed - and normal work was suspended as everyone piled onto the phones, taking calls throughout the day so that no customers were let down.

Those who had worked in the call centre - quite a lot of people, since the company actively encourages internal promotion - took booking calls, while those who had no call centre experience helped out by taking messages.

Boxes of pizza and bottles of cola were ordered in by the company to thank everyone for their hard work.

Jackie King, now a senior project manager, was one of the six who trudged along for miles in single file before being rescued by the boss.

"I heard we were short-staffed so I thought I had better try to come in and help out," she said.

"We all rang each other to see how we were going to get into work - we all look after each other.

"It's fun taking calls again. Once you take a few you remember it all, and there's really good team spirit here. I've made five bookings this morning!"

Mr Pack, who took over as CEO in December, recalled his slippery journey through the snow to fetch his stranded staff.

"I nearly came off the road once and I got stopped by the police as I was going the wrong way down the road," he recalled through chattering teeth.

"But I was determined to get to the people I knew had walked for two hours. They were sheltering in a hotel by junction 14 of the M20!

"Everyone has made an amazing effort to get in and I am really pleased. There's a good buzz in the office and the team spirit is awesome.

"And," he added, "I will definitely be taking those people I picked up home this evening."

Seen the roads outside? Good luck, mate ...

Link to video: http://buto.tv/VsY95

 
Sarah Linney - senior copywriter
email: sarah.linney@holidayextras.com
telephone: 01303 816335

"Half a dozen employees from Folkestone walked for two hours before being picked up by the CEO in a 4x4 he'd driven for more than two-and-a-half hours..." Much as I applaud the team-spirit and work ethic of the employees here I think they need a reality check. They've been sucked in by the corporate bulls*** machine. You aren't ambulance workers, firemen or nurses. Lives don't depend on you flogging car parking space at airports for God's sake. Remember: "Good management is the art of fooling people into wanting to make money for you."

True, we're not. But that's not why we struggled into work, or why we come into work every day. It's about not wanting to let the company and your colleagues down, wanting to go the extra mile for a company that treats you well and colleagues you are close to. This is a good company to work for and people here appreciate that and always try to do their best in return. As for the quote at the end - we get profit share here, so when we work hard we're actually making money for ourselves.