by Dr. Iain
Corness
The resident manager of the Pattaya Exhibition and
Convention Hall (PEACH) is a young looking New Zealander, Ross Ferguson.
He is a man who has not been afraid to try something a little different on
his way through to come to Thailand and the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.
Ross was born in Bluff at the lowest tip of the South
Island of New Zealand. His father was a marine engineer and Ross was a
middle child, with three other brothers. He enjoyed school and was a
better than average student, but particularly sports, where he was a
school gymnastic champion for two years and played rugby and basketball.
As he finished his secondary education he thought he might go to
university and do an Arts degree, but a friend talked him into becoming a
trainee chef! Quite some difference.
For the first three months at the Otago Polytechnic in
Dunedin he hated the career choice. He had to make many adjustments, even
just to being in contact with so many European tutors and the European
hospitality industry work ethic of six day weeks and ten to twelve hour
days. However, he made the grade so well, he was awarded the prize as the
top trainee in all of New Zealand when he graduated. He had also won
another prize - he met Karen, a waitress working her way through to Europe
and they married. Two children later, they are still married, and Karen
still has not made it through to Europe!
Their next move was to go on a working holiday to
Australia, as so many New Zealanders do, being relatively easy to cross
“the pond” as it is known. He applied for a job as a labourer with Mt.
Isa Mines, but when they found that the manual worker was a chef he was
snapped up and promptly installed in a kitchen for over three years.
Returning to NZ, Ross got out of the kitchen and moved
into management, firstly as an F&B manager and then assistant manager
in a hotel. “I was ambitious (in fact he still is) and management seemed
to be the natural progression.”
However, after three years he returned to the kitchen.
This time it was at the request of NZ’s top chef who asked Ross to come
and work for him in one of NZ’s most prestigious restaurants. He
thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but after two years it was time to move
on again. “I wanted to try something different.”
Something different was to work as a sales
representative for a brewery chain, but they soon pushed him back into the
mainstream of hotel management, running a hotel with five bars and a
500-seat nightclub. By now he had obviously become ‘hot’ property in
NZ, as the first company that had offered him a job when he left school
snaffled him again to run their catering and functions businesses.
But after three years, Ross wanted to try something
different again. This time he took the post as the GM of the Rotorua
Convention Centre. This was a ‘start-up’ role and Ross relished the
thought of the autonomy, not following in anyone else’s footsteps.
“Being given the opportunity to start something up, the way you feel it
should be, is a bit of a test of yourself. It looked attractive and
rewarding and it appealed to me.” He was successful at that endeavour,
with the Rotorua facility voted the best NZ conference centre two years
after its opening.
After four years, and Rotorua well set up, Ross was
ready for the next challenge. This came from an employment agency that
asked if he would be interested in another start-up position. He indicated
that he would, and then found the new position was in Thailand. “After
hearing about it, I didn’t think twice. I said, Yes!” This was the
move to the Royal Cliff Beach Resort and PEACH in September 1999.
Here he found that as well as getting the start-up
underway, he became very involved in teaching - passing on his knowledge
to the staff. He asserts that the Thai staff is very rewarding to work
with and he is impressed by their attitude and willingness. “They seem
naturally service oriented in their nature.” In fact, he has enjoyed
teaching so much that he is contemplating an educational role later in his
career.
That Ross Ferguson is good at his job appears certain,
but what about the man? His office is neat and almost sterile. “I am
fanatically fussy about my office. I like to be organized and I don’t
like a lot of clutter.” About the sole sop to his personal self is a
faded front page from an NZ newspaper with some rugby footballers’
photograph.
He looks younger than his 45 years and does go to the
gymnasium twice a week if he can schedule it, but has no fixed workout.
“Everything in moderation - including exercise!” He misses his
mountain biking that he did in his home country, but does admit to
enjoying the facilities of the resort, with its tennis courts and swimming
pools.
He enjoys the different cultures he meets, and does not
strongly come forward as a New Zealander, “But when it comes to the All
Blacks, I’m a New Zealander through and through!”
He thinks he is successful, as “I have achieved what I wanted to
succeed in. I have had the freedom to choose my type of work and when and
where.” He has no regrets over his career choices and would not change
anything. “This is an exciting environment. Every day is different. You
can combine a career and travel, and earn good money.” He believes in
working hard today and tomorrow will look after itself and would exhort
those following in his footsteps not to limit their thinking. “Don’t
be afraid to give it a go.” Ross did, and look where it got him!
