Graduate talent makes a difference at Best of Wales
Gwenno Llewelyn receiving the ‘Best of Wales’ award for ‘Welsh business student of the year’
Best of Wales , a self catering accommodation agency based in Abercynon and Machynlleth, recently took on a few members of staff through the GO Wales placement scheme . They tell us how this has helped to make a difference with developing their business:
When employing new staff we have always been committed to developing the skills and experiences of young people in Wales. As a fully bilingual company all our staff are Welsh speaking and this is important to us. GO Wales is a perfect scheme for us as it enables us to support Welsh speaking graduates by creating jobs for them in their local communities.
In 2013 Best of Wales advertised for a placement for a Filming and Editing Assistant to create videos for our properties. These videos are a way of promoting our properties to potential customers so are a vital part of our business. Max Davies joined us last Summer and due to the quality of his work we continue to employ him on a freelance basis for filming and editing work. An example of one of our videos can be seen here:
Following the success of Max’s placement with us, this year we have 4 members of GO Wales staff with us over the Summer months, all gaining vital experience in the working world. We feel that the benefits the placements brings to both parties are valuable and as a company we wanted to give more people the opportunity to gain valuable practical work.
Our placements for this year are Meirion Jones, who will also be undertaking the task of filming and editing a video for each property. About his experience so far Meirion says:
‘I am benefiting greatly from the opportunity GO Wales and Best of Wales have given me. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do, while learning and developing my skills for the future.’
As well as Meirion we have also been joined by Anest Evans and Mared Llywelyn who have started working with us as Translators. They are currently busy translating all the content of our website into Welsh so we can relaunch our Welsh website which again is so important to us as a business.
Mared adds ‘The work experience of translating for Best of Wales has been great to date, with everyone friendly and more than happy to offer support. I am grateful for the opportunity and I’m sure the experience will be valuable for me in the future and for my career.’
And finally we have Gwenno Llewelyn who has joined us as a Project Manager and will be working on an exciting new project with us. Gwenno won the ‘Best of Wales’ award in her recent graduate ceremony at Aberystwyth University as the best Welsh business student of the year.
With all the staff we have through GO Wales we ensure that as individuals they get the most out of their placements, making sure that the work that they have to complete is of benefit to them and will allow them to develop their skills. As a company we have benefited greatly from GO Wales and it has allowed us to develop elements of the company that would not have been possible without the support and the resource of the scheme.
About Best of Wales
Best of Wales is a self catering accommodation agency with over 230 holiday cottages in Wales . The company was established in 2010 by Llion Pughe and Gareth Mahoney and the company evolved from first hand experience of operating as cottage owners within the industry. Our website, www.bestofwales.co.uk, is the shop window for the company and customers come from all over the UK and beyond.
The company has grown substantially since 2010 and today employ 8 members of staff, ranging from Customer Service Operators to Marketing officers. Based in Abercynon and Machynlleth, Best of Wales is continuously developing and finding new opportunities to improve the service provided to our customers.
For more information on Best of Wales visit the website .
