Cotswold Conference Centre manager celebrates 30-years career

Nick Akerman, Head of Sales at Cotswold Conference Centre, is celebrating 30 years since he started working at Farncombe Estate, Broadway in Worcestershire.

Nick started out when the Estate was Group 4, at the tender age of 19, when he was too young to drive a company vehicle. His first role away from Broadway was based in South London. Early career memories include looking down the barrel of a shotgun during an armed robbery in London.

“We were in the cash-in-transit business then,” says Nick, “carrying money across pavements from retailers and delivering to banks. I knew my way around London pretty well.”

“One day we were in Charlton on the south side of the river, when there was a Post Office raid. With a gun pointing at me, the training kicked in and I had to give away six big bags of Post Office money. It was frightening actually. Soon after that I was moved away to a new district office in Oxford. I worked at the Unipart Head-Office by night and sold Group 4 services during the day!”

Gold Business Tourism award

Nick’s 30-year career has taken him to a number of locations – including a stint operating a new guarding contract in New Delhi – but his longest-serving roles have been based on the 370-acre Farncombe Estate, owned by the Philip-Sørensen family.

Ten years ago, Nick was part of the launch team at the Cotswold Conference Centre.

“At that time, Group 4 decided to close its training facility on Farncombe Estate and I was working at the Dormy House. I was tasked with researching the conference industry for a new venture,” says Nick. “One of our first clients was the global engineering group IMI, who still train here today.

“Highlights include us winning the first ever Gold Business Tourism Award from VisitBritain – and writing the business plan which led to the building of our new building, Maudslay Court, which has opened this autumn. This brings our bedroom capacity to 89 and takes our business to a new level.”

Not all Nick’s memories are as scary as the Post Office hold-up. Some – like escorting the late Dennis Thatcher to the bathroom at the first Birmingham SuperPrix and, in India, managing one of the largest guard forces anywhere in the world – bring a smile to his face.

“One night in India, I was doing the rounds checking in on the security guards,” he recalls. “I approached a gate house where a Sikh guard was sitting with his feet up and his eyes closed. ‘Are you relaxing?’ I asked him. The guard stood up immediately. ‘Oh no sir, my name is V.P. Singh.’”