In the Hot Seat with Joanne Cook from Best Western Hotels

Here at Guestline, we love getting to know our clients and finding out more about the fantastic properties that use Guestline software. This month we have interviewed Joanne Cook from Best Western Hotels.

Name – Joanne Cook Head of Business Change

Hotel – Best Western Central Office, York

Describe your job in a nutshell – I work as the Head of Business Change for Best Western Hotels GB. My team and I work together to both support and implement a great deal of business change via a series of very different projects. The Best Western Business Change team has a fantastic set of diverse skills from business data analysis, business systems and process knowledge to industry recognised project management best practice and change management principles. The Best Western Member Helpdesk also form a crucial part of the team in ensuring that the communication and support for the numerous changes we implement is always available for our members.

What’s your favourite thing to do in [your local area]? – I love long walks in the East Riding of Yorkshire Wolds or at the coast with my family and very energetic German Shepherd.

What are the first 3 things you do when you come to work? – Make myself a coffee, scan through my email and review my daily “to do” list.

If you weren’t working in the hospitality industry, what would be your dream profession?  - I am quite an outdoorsy person so I’d love to do something that sees me being outside and active, preferably with horses as I adore them although I have recently discovered an interest for archaeology.

What’s been your career highlight so far? - I think my most recent project here at Best Western has been one of my most challenging, but thankfully, most successful highlights. Working with 265 individual hotels to support them in embracing both new PMS and Best Western Two-Way Interface technology has taken both patience and persistence to ensure success.   

What’s the most embarrassing thing you have done at work? – Thankfully I work at home so any embarrassing moments I may have had have been strictly between me and the dog!

What’s your guilty pleasure? – Beauty treatments; there’s nothing I love more that booking myself into a spa for some serious R&R

What would you do if you won the lottery this weekend? - Pack up and travel the world with my family and friends, once I’d finished, buy a huge property with lots of horses and dogs – I might even get down to digging up some fields looking for treasure.

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