Name: Lou Campbell
Airport: East Midlands
Store: World Duty Free
Position: Customer Service Assistant
Lou Campbell has been with WDF at East Midlands airport
for the last nine years and originally joined after hearing about
it from a friend. She has a background as a
florist.
It’s a great atmosphere at the airport.
Customers are happy because they’re going on holiday. A lot of them
will return the following year and pop in to say hello. It’s so
different from high street retail – for one thing, the staff isn’t
constantly changing, so there’s a real team feeling.
‘I’m in my own little world here. I get to
meet people, talk to them, and I feel like I’m making their day
better in some way. And it’s not always through selling them
something. Actually, I’m often on ‘meet and greet’, where my job is
to say hi and make people feel welcome. Every person who walks
through the door is different. Some people you can have a laugh
with and others just want to get down to it and choose something.
So you become an expert in people-watching.
‘I’ve always been on cigarettes and alcohol
– sometimes perfumes. I like the variety. You get training in
different areas. My new forte is handbags. Recently, the head of
Biza came in and said that my display was the best display of
handbags he’d seen in a long time and he shook my hand and asked me
what I did before. So maybe it was my training as a florist that
gave me an eye for design.
‘I love it. I really can’t imagine doing
anything else. I’m happy where I am and enjoy going to work every
day. When it’s your job to be positive, it rubs off on you and
helps you enjoy your day.