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He’s been in Herm for 18 years and is now Head of Hospitality, and it’s clear when speaking to Tom Jones that he simply loves this little island that he calls home.
Tom’s two children have grown up in Herm, and he’s pleased to report the arrival of three new Herm babies already this year. The resident population is otherwise fairly static with a happy cohort of around 60 workers and their families, supported by up to 80 seasonal staff in the spring and summer months, led by the island’s new management team.
Herm’s leaseholder, John Singer, has been responsible for the island for 16 years, and, after the recent resignation of CEO, Craig Senior, has opted to return to a similar management structure of previous years with a small team of senior managers overseeing the operation of the island.
Tom’s role as Head of Hospitality has been extended to include oversight of the hotel, holiday cottages, campsite, shops and beach cafés as well as the Mermaid Tavern, which he managed for 16 years.
Pictured: Herm's management team.
Other members of the newly formed Herm Management Board are James Hastings, Technical Services Manager, Michael Fletcher; Finance Director, Kate Evans; Marketing & PR Manager, Shaun McDonald; Hotel General Manager, and Anne Devenport; Sales & Reservations Manager.
Everyone is kept busy, not least Tom himself.
"As head of hospitality, everything that encompasses customers pretty much falls under my remit and fills my day.
"Even though we have a change of management structure with Craig moving on there's no big changes happening while we get on with the summer season. The whole island and all its staff are completely focused on delivering excellent customer service and products. Apart from the outstanding natural beauty of the island, that's one of the key reasons why people come to Herm.
"We've got some good people running the hotel at the moment, so that is really shining through. Shaun McDonald, who is a known face in Guernsey hospitality, heads up The White House Hotel team and a new deputy manager, Govind Pratap has recently joined us from the OGH. Both give the hotel a strong front of house presence and know how to deliver a professional service.
"And we have a great team around the whole of Herm, from the campsite, beach cafés and shop, to the service team, housekeepers and truckies, and for the first time in many, many years we're fully staffed across all areas of the business.
"We've also managed to retain employees from last year, which is good because it’s easier to achieve continuity of product if you keep the people. I think we pay fairly, we have reasonably good accommodation for seasonal staff with further investment this coming winter, and we look after them as best we can. So, it's almost like the reset button has been pressed."
Pictured: Herm's White House Hotel.
"Our focus is not just on sales; yes, they are critical because without sales, we don't need all the staff, and if we don't have the staff we can't deliver. So, while sales are important, our immediate focus is on quality of products and quality of service, because it's about next year and the year after. What we are really looking to drive forward is the reputation and future of Herm and for people to feel welcomed and warm again."
Glasgow born; Tom moved to London in his late teens after completing his City & Guilds qualifications in cookery at the Glasgow College of Food Technology.
“My initial intention was to become a chef, but I soon decided I wanted a broader knowledge of the industry, so began my front of house journey with Grand Metropolitan Inns & Bars as a trainee manager.”
Tom first set foot on Herm as a day tripper when he found himself working in Guernsey during the 1990s.
"After seeing an advert for a bar supervisor at St Pierre Park I headed over to Guernsey and did some time at various places in my younger years, bouncing about the island and trying different jobs. The one person that sticks with me from the St Pierre Park days was Tom Brouard, a wonderful man, and a true credit to hospitality.
“I wanted to explore a little so moved on after 18 months to become Assistant Bar Manager at the OGH. Back then hospitality was really quite big in Guernsey; there was a lot going on and everybody was busy. I remember Monday night was hospitality staff night, and everyone used to go to the Ship and Crown, or Folies, it was good fun.”
Pictured: Tom Jones first visited Herm in the 1990s, but he moved to the island 18 years ago to live, work, and raise his family.
After a five year spell in Guernsey, Tom spent some time working in Holland, and then headed back to the UK to manage a pub in South London, where he met his partner, Rachel. The couple had two children and Tom moved to a new role working as Hospitality Manager with the English Football Association.
"The English FA had their headquarters in Soho Square in the West End, and I managed all their hospitality for five or six years during the Sven-Goran Eriksson era. It was a fascinating place to work; I learnt a great deal and met many of the top players and managers of that period – a lot of tales to tell!
“I then moved to the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch in central London as Food and Beverage Manager. It was a huge organisation, and hotel with 900 rooms. It was a very full on job which would often see me working 17 hours a day.
"It was in my office at the Cumberland that Herm came back into my life. I was reading the Hotel and Caterer magazine and there was an advert for a manager at the Mermaid Tavern. I went home, spoke to Rachel, and she said 'I don't think I can live in such a small place’ so I didn't do anything about it.
“Then almost a year later, I was reading the same magazine, and the advert was there again. So, this time I applied for it without her knowledge.
"I had a phone call from Adrian Heyworth, who was the Herm leaseholder at the time, and he asked me to come over for the weekend and bring the family. So, I went home and suggested we all went away for the weekend, not saying it was for a job interview. It wasn't until we were at the airport that it clicked we were going to Guernsey. Let’s say the air was slightly blue for a few sentences, but within 24 hours of being in Herm, the command was ‘you better get this job!’
“Anyone that comes to Herm falls in love with it, that’s just the way it is, and fortunately I got the job.”
Pictured: Tom Jones has been part of the Herm community for 18 years.
Tom and his family have been part of the Herm community ever since that first weekend trip.
Rachel worked in the island and was well loved by those who knew her, as evidenced by the tributes paid when she died in 2021.
Her and Tom’s children, Morgan and Ryan both now live and work in Guernsey but frequently return home to Herm.
“They (the children) are both doing very well in Guernsey living their own lives, but they grew up in Herm. They absolutely adored every minute, and they still talk about it from the heart.
“They often come home at weekends, and this is where they run to, where they call home.
“Morgan still works at the Mermaid sometimes to help out, and Ryan learned his chef skills here and also helps the kitchen team from time to time. They both worked from the age of 14, they were very hands on.”
Knowing how much his own children benefited from growing up in Herm, Tom said the island’s recent ‘baby boom’ is a positive for the island as well as the families.
"There's lots of happy mums around the island, and lots of tired dads. And of course, tired mums and happy dads too!” he laughed.
“Sometimes the mums do administrative jobs from home while the dads are all on the ground working. We've got plumbers, electricians, engineers, executive chef, chefs, every role you can imagine. They're all great people. We're lucky to have them.
“it's interesting too, as Herm has such a small population, but a lot of people do end up as couples. There's only a draw of 60 people, but it’s surprising how many end up together, and having families. Must be something in the air!
"I could write a book, to be honest, with the number of people who have left Herm and got married after arriving single. I still keep in touch with them.”
Pictured: Who hasn't enjoyed a meal or a drink at the Mermaid on a sunny day?
Matchmaking aside, Tom offered me an overview of the changing habits of visitors to Herm over his nearly two decades on the island.
Whereas he used to know most of his customers at the Mermaid Tavern, he admits he doesn't anymore.
"I would normally know the names of 75% of the people who are within the Mermaid courtyard, but post covid I probably know the names of 10% now.
"The change of people coming to Herm has been vast. People changed habits, some people built their own bars in their gardens, people who were in their mid-fifties before covid are now approaching 60 and maybe Herm isn't what they want to do anymore? There was certainly a dramatic change in the known local faces that came across the water after covid. Hopefully they’ll start to return in time.”
Despite the changing faces among its regular clientele, the Mermaid is still where Tom feels most comfortable. It’s been his workplace for nearly two decades and like any good landlord, he enjoys spending time behind his bar.
"I need to make an effort to pull myself out of the Mermaid because it's so natural for me to be within the confines of its walls. We also have a trainee manager in place and a young team so there is an element of ongoing training which requires my attention.
“But it is my own will to push myself out of it and to be in all the other places too. I have a raft of other responsibilities and will soon be relocating my office to the reservations and admin building by the harbour.
“My workday these days is 8am until six or seven in the evening, whereas previously it would have been more like 11am until 10 or 11 at night. But now I'll be far more visible and around about the business on a day-to-day basis all year round.”
Pictured: Some parts of Herm will close this winter as usual.
The Mermaid itself will likely be closed for a few weeks early next year so some of the annual maintenance work can be carried out. Tom said he is looking forward to getting his hands dirty when that time comes around because he likes working alongside his team whatever they're doing.
"It's true to say that Herm needs an awful lot of work doing in the winter and we don't really have the ability for management to sit back and just be in an office somewhere.
"Everyone needs to be able and prepared to get their hands dirty.
“We’ve got a lot of ageing infrastructure and there’s a continual list that we add to almost daily. It could be as little as replacing a pane of glass, painting a few walls, cutting back hedging and trees, or it could be as vast as replacing ceilings, or a roof, ripping out central heating systems and replacing them or the whole floor of the hotel kitchen.”
There are some examples of improvements to Herm’s infrastructure that Tom knows have been well received by guests, including almost a whole electrical rewiring of the island, and the new water system which saw every pipe in the island renewed.
"If you remember back in the day in Herm, you’d turn the tap on and got a dribble. But people who come on holiday expect some pressure on their running water. So the whole system has been upgraded and an advanced new pressure system installed - I’m pleased to report there are no more pressure issues.
“The expense of all these things is just nonstop.”
With his never-ending list of jobs, Tom’s new role as Head of Hospitality is certainly keeping him busier than ever, in the island that he loves, and he is optimistic for the Herm’s future and how it will be managed going forward.
“John Singer is a hugely driven man who loves Herm more than anyone. He reaches deep into his own pockets every year to subsidise the island which I know a lot of people don’t realise. He is very passionate about its future and keeping it special for everyone and we, as a team, work very hard to keep it that way too. Like I said before, everybody loves Herm, it is a unique place, we are lucky to have it as part of our lives, and our job is to make sure our visitors have the best experience they can."
Pictured: Changes to the Shell Beach offering have proven popular with guests in recent years.
"Things are looking reasonably good so far this year. We had a very poor April, then a very good May. But Herm’s business is largely reliant on the weather, and that's the question currently; when should we be open and when should we be closed is something that's under review."
"Over the winter months it can be incredibly costly to operate as a business," he said. "You've got the heating on, the lights on, there's wear and tear on everything from décor to boiler systems, additional staffing costs and all for just a few dozen guests."
"Our self-catering holiday cottages will always remain available year-round, and the Mermaid Tavern will always be open apart from, generally a limited period in January/early February for refurbishment. But we are beginning to draw financial models of the affect of varying the periods of time that the hotel is open, which needs a bit of our time and attention before any final decisions are made.
“But for now,” stressed Tom with a happy smile, “our primary focus is to provide a wonderful summer season for all guests visiting Herm, so let’s hope the sun keeps shining.”
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