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In a career that’s included finessing her cue skills with Alex Higgins when she managed a snooker club in Camden Town to working for the inspirational Sir Rocco Forte, Anne Ackord emphasises the pivotal role played by her parents, her passion for ‘Customer First’ thinking and her ‘je ne regrette rien’ philosophy on life.

What was your first career job and wage? 

My first role in the leisure industry was as a manager at a large snooker club in Camden Town where many of the great players of the day practised, so my claim to fame is that Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins taught me to play snooker!

What was your greatest accomplishment and what are you most proud of? 

Workwise it’s always been about creating teams who shared the vision and were focussed on achieving goals. I don’t want to offend any of my teams by picking the best! Otherwise, my greatest achievement is the fact that my children have become great parents themselves and I hope I played a role in that.

Who has had the biggest influence on your career? 

Sir Rocco Forte; I worked for 12-years with Forte plc and despite it being a multinational with thousands of employees they created a family and a real team. When Forte was subject to an ultimately successful hostile takeover bid by Granada the whole team were in tears. Rocco was years ahead of his time in terms of the training and customer service standards he insisted upon. He was very hands-on despite his place at the top of the hierarchy and its true to this day, those of us trained by Forte were very well trained.

What are you looking forward to most from January’s EAG? 

The conversations, you always come away with ideas.

Which industry figure do you admire most?

I very much admired the way John White led Bacta through Covid - his communication was excellent.

What role have you enjoyed most? 

All of them!! If I had to pick a favourite, I’d say my current role as I get to see our different businesses with unique challenges and opportunities but all with the same underlying goals and vision. Sharing experiences and ideas between the teams is rewarding and benefits the whole business

Who has been the most influential person in your life and why? 

My father without a doubt. He had three daughters who he adored, was a brilliant scientist and helped me raise my children. Without him and my mum I would never have had the career I’ve had. Workwise there have been numerous inspiring leaders I’ve been lucky enough to work with. The late John Cook of Bourne Leisure really understood his business and certainly knew how to rally the troops behind his business goals.

How do you define success? 

Knowing that you did your very best and that you started with a clear goal , a strategy and the right team. 

How do you manage stress? 

I read murder mysteries and have done since reading Agatha Christe as a child. Maybe occasionally I’ll imagine the victim is someone who in real life is causing a few problems….

What are your career regrets? 

None really as each stage has led to the next. There have been tough times of course, and maybe different decisions could have been made but overall je ne regrette rien!

What inspires or motivates you? 

To give the best customer service we can. I’m always looking at improvement and hate it when the customer isn’t the central part of any strategy. Sometimes the team are your customer and I think that not letting them down in any way is one of my strongest motivators. I want each team I work with to learn new skills or different ways of looking at a problem. If we don’t all grow and develop new skills together, we won’t thrive, as the environment is constantly changing

What advice would you give to your 16-year-old self? 

Everything is part of life’s rich pattern: it will all work out 

Something about yourself that’s not on your CV?  

I used to sing backing vocals with various groups in my (much) younger days. 

In a sentence what would you change about the industry?

There should be greater emphasis on showing our younger generation what a great industry this is: that involves a sharper focus on training and getting that training recognised nationally. Our industry is sometimes looked down on as not being a profession and not a long-term career option: it is and it’s amazing

One piece of advice or insight that has changed your life and from whom? 

‘Customer First’ from my Forte days. It guided how I worked and has been at the centre of my thinking in regards to all the varied challenges that we meet in running a business, large or small.

What’s your Desert Island Disc? 

Bat Out of Hell: Meatloaf, the soundtrack to the time when my children were young and I used to play Meatloaf to propel me through the day.