Team Member Focus July: Lorna Smith

Last month we introduced you to courier driver, Roderick Page, who discussed his dream dinner guests and what he’d bring to a desert island.

Taking to the spotlight this month is THS Couriers’ Operations Manager, Lorna Smith, who has been at the company for eight and a half years.

Read on to find out more about her strangest stories, what food she cannot stand and where she would time travel to.

What is your role at the company?

I work at THS Couriers as the Operations Manager looking after some of the world’s leading airlines, including British Airways, Emirates and Virgin Atlantic, at UK airports from Inverness to London Heathrow and everything in between. I’m also responsible for the day-to-day running of the company including accounts, insurance and rosters – I am a Jack of all trades, master of none!

How many years have you been working at the company?

I have been with THS Couriers for eight and a half years and became part of the Eagle team last December when Eagle bought THS.

What do you enjoy most about working there?

I love working with all the airlines as my first ever job was with British Airways and I seem to have gone full circle. My job is never the same from one day to the next which keeps it exciting with new challenges to conquer.

Do you have any strange stories from your time there?

As we deliver airline delayed baggage we don’t tend to get anything too weird and wonderful, however it can get manic. Just like the time the ash cloud erupted in 2010 and brought its own challenges. The aviation industry came to a standstill and bags started arriving at our Glasgow depot on artic lorries from all over Scotland. I don’t think I have ever seen that amount of bags again in eight years!

It was a logistical nightmare but working with such a dedicated and knowledgeable team where everyone rolled their sleeves up and mucked in made it fun and exciting. The job satisfaction we all got when we finally saw the last bags being delivered made the hard work worthwhile!

What is something unexpected about you?

I can be nice, sometimes!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I don’t really have a lot of spare time as airports are a 24/7 business but when I do get some I love a pamper day at a nice hotel or spa.

What foods can you not stand?

Goats cheese – no matter how it’s dressed up!

If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

I’m not sure about a super power but I would love a magic wand to cast spells!

If you could have dinner with any three people, living or dead, who would they be and why?

It would need to be Michel Roux Jr as he can cook, Paolo Nutini so he can sing after dinner and Richard Branson as he would have good conversation and at least we have something in common to talk about.

If you could teleport yourself to anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?

It would need to be somewhere like Rio or Hong Kong to see how people actually live there!

If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only bring three things, what would they be?

A big box of matches to light fires, a hamper of fabulous food and drink and a wind up radio so it always worked.

If you could be inside the world of any book, TV show or film, which one would it be and why?

I would love to be in Scandal working with Olivia Pope – her world is never dull and I think working in the White House would be amazing (not with Trump, though). Plus, let’s not forget the nice clothes and handbags she has!

If you could travel to any point in time, where would you go?

I would probably fast forward 20 years to see what the world looks like and steal some new invention which I could bring back, make and retire by the age of 45!