Meet an Ambassador

Thursday July 2, 2020

We know you have met them, but do you know them?

The three-strong team that welcome visitors and work closely with businesses in the BID zone are the BID Ambassadors.

The uniformed Ambassadors are on duty at key times of the working week and at weekends and help ensure that businesses and their customers get the very best out of the town.

Cheltenham BID (CBID) interviewed Ambassador Phil Cook.

CBID- Tell us a little bit about yourself?

PC: I have lived in Cheltenham for 32yrs and my background is in leisure management, including 14 years as senior support manager at Cheltenham’s late, lamented Odeon Cinema. I have juggled part-time jobs for five years now and this suits me down to the ground, as I love the variety and diversity.

I am passionate about theatre and National Hunt racing so I am in the right town for that and I spend a lot of my spare time writing – I wrote a 70,000 word autobiographical book entitled ‘Life In the Time of Covid-19’ during my initial three month lockdown which I am hoping to self-publish.

CBID – What is your favourite thing about Cheltenham?

PC – I have always liked the fact that Cheltenham is a ‘walking town’ and everything is so accessible. As a non-driver, this has always been important to me. There are beautiful walks in and out of the centre and whilst walking in town, people should take time to look up above their eyeline and see the beauty and majesty of some of Cheltenham’s architecture.

CBID – What do you find tourists are most interested in?

PC: I think it depends on whether they come individually or in a group. Couples and families who come away for the weekend do far more research and hunt out the likes of Montpellier, Pittville and Tivoli but the coach parties tend to stay more central and head for the local cafes, markets or the big names on the High Street, as they tend to have more time restraints.

CBID – What is your favourite part about being an Ambassador?

PC: Meeting people from all walks of life. Business owners, managers, staff, members of the public, tourists, festival goers and of course, local authority. There is such a variety to my work and although I am here – primarily – to support local businesses, I feel I am supporting the town itself in so many other different ways.

CBID -What is the most rewarding thing about being Ambassador?

PC: If you love people and love your town as I do, this is the best job in the world. It can be cold, wet, dirty and very challenging at times, but you take the rough with the smooth. Helping people is very rewarding and after three years in the job, I now feel great satisfaction when people recognise and stop me or wave to me from their businesses.