ASHLEY LONGMAN - VENUE MANAGER

 

Hi, my name is Ashley Longman. I am the Venue Manager of Fairweather’s on Scott in Marlborough.

 

I have been with Fairweather’s since November 2021 and love it.

I have been in the hospitality industry for 10+ years. I started with my grandparents, who owned a pub; this is where I picked up my passion for the hospitality industry and always dreamed of running my own venue when I was older.

I started as a kitchen hand with my grandparents, and now and then, my uncle would teach me how to pour pints in the public bar, and I loved it.

I had a few jobs in between my teenage years, from vineyards to the cinema. The cinema gave me experience in customer service, which opened the opportunity for me to get into the customer service roles.

Once I became an adult, I travelled to Australia from 18 and got into the hospitality industry again at 19 years of age. My then Venue manager trained me in Adelaide to become a duty manager. Within six months of starting, he taught me the skills I needed to succeed in my career, from cellar operations, functions, bar operations, gaming operations, customer engagement and building great relationships with the customers and the venues locals. These skills and attributes I bring with me every single day.

After nine and half years, I moved back to Marlborough, New Zealand and got my job with an old English pub in Renwick, where I furthered my skills with table service and functions and set up the motel booking website for the then owner.

I moved on to the South Island Hospitality Group in 2019 as an assistant manager for Springlands Tavern, where I learned the running of the day to day operations of running a big venue. Learning these skills led me to move around the company and run my own venue in nelson for the company. I was also given the opportunity to run two venues in nelson, which I loved the challenge and putting my skills to great use and developing the teams I had. 

 

The opportunity arose for me to transfer back to Marlborough, where I was the Venue manager of the Springlands Tavern. I ran the day-to-day operations of the tavern. My passion for the industry keeps me striving to develop skills and build great relationships with our customers.

For me, the hospitality industry is not just a job; it’s a passion that I love doing, and when customers give you great feedback and compliments, it makes me strive even more.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read.

 

Ashley Longman