A day in the life of... Matthew Emptage – Overseas Support

Each month we like to catch up with a member of the Guestline team and find out what a typical day consists of. So, this month we delve into Matthew Emptage’s working day who explains more about what he gets up to...
So this might be a culmination of a ‘month’ in the life of me due to my usually mundane activities of eating/ working/sleeping!

My mornings are always spent multi-tasking between drinking coffee, getting ready, reading Facebook and standing under my air conditioner!

After my humid walk to work and then spending the next 30 minutes cooling down, Outlook is opened. They do say managing emails is a full time job and I think it’s true. Once complete I get into the swing of “work”.

Since my move out to Thailand my job has changed significantly. I still cover support, answering any queries from our customers across Australasia. Support is sometimes quite difficult as many of our users have very limited English. My two fellow Guestliners (Pop and Tan) help with any language barriers and also assist in supporting our hotels here. Pop and Tan have been in the hotel industry for many years and provide great assistance when training/supporting our customers. We currently supply 24 hour email and phone support. Armed with a work mobile, activated to ring from 6am-6pm, this enables me to receive support calls no matter where I am. Our Shrewsbury office then pick up any support calls made ‘out of hours’. In addition to support, I also attempt to keep my colleagues in the office smiling with my witty banter! My main role at the moment is concentrating on sales, working closely with Best Western trying to secure orders and make them believe Guestline is “the future”. With a few sales under my belt I am hoping to push on and make Thailand a success for not only myself but for Guestline as well.

People say I live a great life, travelling around to beautiful places…and I couldn’t agree more. But after the sun/sea/ sandy beaches, a lot of hard work is done in the background that doesn’t get shared in a photo on Facebook.

I started my career with Guestline over 4 years ago taking up a support role. Before my move to the Shire [Shrewsbury] I was working in the oil and gas industry down in Surrey. I completed my Honours Degree in Business IT over 10 years ago now (makes me feel old!). Unlike most of my colleagues, I had never worked in the hospitality sector before…until now!

Now onto my hobbies/ interests. I will keep this short. I love coffee. I play golf to a semi pro/ amateur/beginner level (dependant on the day). I enjoy a bit of culture (turning up to a picturesque place, taking a picture and leaving).

One thing many people won’t know is that I used to play badminton for Scotland Under18’s... however, due to carrying excess weight and trying to shoot a football like Messi, my knees certainly aren’t what they used to be! I love Thai food so am definitely in the right place for that!

Thank you for taking the time to read this piece!

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