Dorset-based tourism industry consultancy Simon Scarborough Associates is celebrating its first year of trading – and founder Simon Scarborough says the Echo has played no small part in his company’s success
“Any start-up company needs the moral support of friends and colleagues, and I have to thank Echo editor Toby Granville and his team for their backing and encouragement over the past 12 months,” says Mr Scarborough.
“I don’t want to make an Oscar acceptance speech, but there are a great many people and organisations on my thank-you list, and the Echo is right up there.”
The former general manager of Bournemouth’s Norfolk Hotel, Mr Scarborough has lent his expertise to a wide range of clients in the town, and Simon Scarborough Associates is now spreading its wings across the whole of Dorset.
“The thinking behind Simon Scarborough Associates is really very simple,” he says. “I’ve used my own experience and knowledge, gleaned from more than 30 years in the business, but I’ve also built up a team of professionals with complementary skill-sets so that we can rise to almost any challenge.
“Whether it’s a question of planning or legal matters, human resource issues, sales and marketing or PR programmes, website design – whatever – Simon Scarborough Associates can call on some of Dorset’s top professionals to provide objective advice that will ultimately boost a business’ bottom line.”
Starting with just a handful of Bournemouth-based clients, the past year has seen Simon Scarborough Associates working with tourism and hospitality business ventures across the county – one of the most recent “recruits” is a fledgling restaurant chain headquartered in Dorchester.
In addition to providing consultancy services to his clients, Mr Scarborough is also closely involved with the government-funded National Coastal Tourism Academy, based at Bournemouth University. The NCTA is tasked with raising awareness of, and creating new job opportunities within, the wider tourism industry.
“My home is in Wool, which is sufficiently central to enable me to service clients wherever they may be,” says Mr Scarborough. “I’ve worked some very early mornings, developing new breakfast service standards, and some very late nights, reviewing hotel performance after the last guest has gone to bed, but I’m enjoying every minute of it.
“It’s hard work and long hours, but my team and I are 100 per cent committed. It’s enormously rewarding, and all the more so thanks to the support I receive from the likes of the Echo.”