Mark Brookfield started his new post as Operations Manager of Teignmouth Rugby Club in November of last year, with the remit of turning the organisation around after the difficulties caused by the pandemic. Mark had previously spent thirty-four years in the military, most recently as a Staff Officer at the Army Headquarters and explained that he had devised a strategy for building the club up from the foundations.
Mark said: “The strategy was to build the employee base and split the club into lines of development. We have managed to turn it around and in six months, we’ve gone from a turnover of nothing to upwards of two hundred thousand.”
Integral to this careful and cohesive period of transformation has been the opportunity of free training for the club’s employees, which has been provided by Devon County Council’s Open up to Skills Initiative.
Mark described how he heard about the training: “I took on a Director of Rugby who had utilised the training offer in his previous organisation and he recommended I get in touch with Seetec to help build the skills of our employees.”
Mark enrolled members of his staff on food hygiene and first aid courses and has seen first-hand the benefits the training has had on both his employees and the organisation in general: “It’s been an amazing change for us. We’ve gone from an amateur organisation made up of volunteers to a professional team. The benefits are there to be seen by all, in terms of the standards of cleanliness and the way staff are conducting themselves. It’s helped to build trust with our members.”
He gave a specific example: “One of my staff members, Laura, has worked in hospitality for many years but wanted to make her approach more professional and she’s jumped at these training opportunities. Now, she is encouraging other members of the team and making suggestions for further improvements.”
Another subject Mark was keen to discuss was the role the club has in the local community: “Everything we do, we make it community focused. There are lots of people with money in our area, but also lots with truly little. When you come into the club, everyone gets the same opportunities, and this absolutely includes our staff.”
Janet Francis, Employer and Learner Executive for Seetec Outsource explained more about what those community efforts have involved: “Supporting Teignmouth Rugby Club through the Open up to Skills initiative has been fantastic. Not only to support Mark’s team members and volunteers to upskill, but to use the site to deliver training to the wider hospitality community in the area.”
Mark is planning further development and expansion of the club in the coming years and details how the training his staff have completed is crucial to that continued progress: “We want to build a new clubhouse and expand its operations, starting with a café, where those staff members who have completed the food hygiene course can start work straight away in the kitchen.”
This is further evidence of Mark’s belief that investing in his staff has huge advantages for both the short-term and long-term future of the club: “Volunteers are extremely hard to come by these days; people are living the day for the day now. Therefore, I am prepared to employ more staff and engage in upskilling them, as this will only lead to a better product.”
To find out more about the Open up to Skills offer, please click the link here.
