When it comes to being ‘hands-on’ no-one sets a better example than Barry Cole, managing director of the Riviera International Conference Centre at Torquay.

But his long standing promise to ‘go back to the floor’ is proving more of a challenge than he imagined for after 10 years at the helm, Barry has only managed to work in seven of the 23 different departments.

These range from the bars to the kitchen, working as a lifeguard, looking after the stores and with the maintenance teams as well as in IT. But with 16 departments still to go, Barry has renewed his challenge to work his way through every section of the Centre.

He explained: “Understanding the challenges that each individual member of the team has to meet helps me to manage change more effectively. I have also been able to bring a fresh pair of eyes to some of the procedures adopted and sometimes I have been able to help managers drive out some unnecessary work.”

Barry has also recently lead the management team through the Investment in Excellence award which is a high powered course devised by the Pacific Institute.

HR and training manager Claire Newberry explained: “The course gave us a real insight into how the mind works and how we can better manage our creative subconscious in order to help ourselves as individuals and as successful managers.”

Over the years the Riviera International Conference Centre has gained a host of accreditation including Leadership and Management Award, Profile recognition and most recently a Silver Green Tourism Award.