A NEW spa director has given up her life on the ocean waves and taken up a new role at one of the North East’s top leisure facilities.
Middlesbrough-born Victoria Walker has spent more than a decade on some of the world’s top cruise ships, initially starting as a therapist and working her way up to become head of sales and revenue for the spas on 14 vessels.
But now Victoria has decided to keep her land legs – and has taken up the top role at award-winning the Spa at Ramside, at Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa near Durham.
Victoria, 30, ran the spas on behalf of OneSpaWorld across the fleet of Holland and Americas cruise ships and when not travelling across the globe was based in Miami.
And she is looking forward to bringing all her expertise and experience to the Spa at Ramside, where she took up the top spot just three weeks ago.
“This is a fantastic spa and I’m delighted to be here,” she said.
“The strange thing was that I’d actually bought some vouchers for myself and a friend to come and have a spa day and then I found out about the job and applied for that instead.
“I’ve given them to my friend and her partner now so they won’t go to waste – and I got the dream job!”
Victoria worked her way up the ranks on the cruise ships, often being troubleshooted in to help under performing teams build up the revenue.
“It was a lot of pressure and long hours but I just love spas and everything that goes with them so it’s not really like work to me,” she revealed.
She already has a number of plans in place “to enhance the guest journey” and is looking at introducing a range of new treatments and packages, along with adding value to becoming a spa member.
John Adamson, owner of Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa said that Victoria would be a huge asset.
“Victoria has an amazing amount of experience and knows the spa industry from every single angle,” he said.
“We are thrilled to have her as part of our team and we know she’ll do a fantastic job.”