A genuine holiday specialist providing unique and unforgettable holidays in Europe’s most majestic mountains
Thank you for your interest in us. We might specialise in summer walking holidays and winter snowshoeing & skiing holidays, but our offices are in gently-undulating Essex. More precisely, we are in the market square of the charming town of Saffron Walden and it is from here that a team of people pull the strings that define our reputation and the quality of our unique holidays.
Nearly every member of our management team has lived and worked in one or more of our destinations, fallen in love with it and then come to join us on a full-time basis. Rest assured that, whoever you communicate with, we will provide the highest levels of personal service and attention to detail from your initial enquiry, through to the end of an unforgettable holiday.
Tom & Dee Collett
Tom and Dee founded Collett’s Mountain Holidays in 1997. They met in the Dolomites in 1995 when Tom employed Dee to work for the small specialist ski operator he was running at the time. They married in 2002 and now have three daughters. As Managing Director, Tom is actively involved in all aspects of Collett’s. Fluent in Italian, he has numerous longstanding friendships with many people in the Dolomites. Dee has overseen our office procedures since the outset. She now comes to the office three days a week. Having recently overseen the installation of a new bookings system, her main priority is the administration of our bookings, ultimately ensuring that the various aspects that comprise a plain-sailing and successful booking are all taken care of. The picture of Tom, Dee, Daisy, Martha and Georgie (left) was taken in the Dolomites above Badia at the recent wedding of another colleague, Phil Melia…
Phil Melia
Phil is one of four directors at Collett’s. He joined us in our very first summer season in 1998, originally as our resort artist in the Dolomites. He came back again to do another season in 1999 and has been with Collett’s ever since with a total of eight summer seasons under his belt, making him an authority on the Dolomites. Last year Phil married his long-time girlfriend, Kamila, in Corvara. They met in the Dolomites when Kamila came to work for Collett’s in Summer 2000. Like everyone at our UK office, Phil is involved across the board. However, his key responsibility is the recruitment and training of our seasonal staff, arguably the most important role of all. He spends hours poring over applications, chatting with candidates, seeking out that special ‘something’ that makes them the right person for the job. Those of you who have holidayed with us before will know how utterly effective Phil has been in this role.
Sam Chandler
Sam has worked for Collett’s for 13 years. He joined us in Summer 2000 as a Via Ferrata Organiser whilst still at university. In 2002, upon completing a degree in Photography, Sam joined Collett’s full time, splitting his time between the UK and the Dolomites, where he eventually became our Resort Manager. Sam has taken on many responsibilities, notably in sales, advertising, marketing and IT. It is Sam we turn to when a computer fails, when the broadband goes down, when we need new hardware or software. His technological talents have contributed significantly to the design and production of our brochures, advertisements and promotional material, not to mention our ‘Ideas & Information’ files in resort. He now manages our website and online activity. In July 2011 he got married in Sicily to Jennifer (Jen), a former Collett’s walks organiser. They live in Dusseldorf, but this has not stopped Sam from working for Collett’s full-time and he is a regular visitor to our offices in Saffron Walden.
Vivian Wilkins
Viv has been with us for 12 years and has been the mainstay of our office during that period. Her interest in the Dolomites was nurtured primarily by her friendship with Tom & Dee Collett and then by two Collett’s walking holidays in the late 1990’s. Soon after she joined Collett’s with responsibility for the administration of our bookings. After that, she gallantly tried one of our skiing holidays, but decided to stick to the walking! As many of you already know, she ensures the booking process is plainsailing, pleasurable and trouble-free, taking outstandingly good care of all aspects of our bookings day in day out, whether it concerns your accommodation, car hire, ferries, airport transfers, holiday insurance or payments.
Lisa Critchlow
Lisa joined Collett’s in Summer 2002 as a Walk Organiser based at Haus Valentin in Badia. After doing Summer 2003 and 2004, she became full time in October 2004. She split her time between the Dolomites and the UK, taking on seasonal roles such as Chalet Host, Via Ferrata Organiser and Resort Manager, then returning to the UK to administer sales and bookings in the off-season. She knows every nook and cranny both here at our UK office but also out in the Dolomites. With Lisa’s fluent German, she has nurtured many of our key supplier relationships in the Dolomites, which has helped us to acquire attractive accommodation and to develop our winter business. Since October 2008 Lisa has been permanently based in the UK, looking after sales and managing contracts and relationships with our suppliers in Italy. In July 2010 she married Pete, a former Collett’s Via Ferrata organiser, and in December 2011 she gave birth to Elsie, already a Dolomites regular. She currently works on a part time basis.
Richard Manterfield
Rich started working for Collett’s in Summer 2007 as one of our Via Ferrata organisers, having completed a degree in Outdoor Leadership. He intended to work for Collett’s for 6 months before returning to the UK to find work as an instructor; but six years later, he is still here! Rich worked as a key member of our resort outdoor team for three years in both summer and winter, before becoming a Resort Manager and then our Area Manager in the Dolomites. He is now one of our Product Managers, primarily overseeing the Dolomites, which he knows so well. He travels to the Dolomites regularly to make sure we are maintaining and improving the quality of our holidays in all areas.
Tony & Jane Stirland
Tony and Jane set up and developed our holidays in the Pyrenees and the Picos de Europa which we launched in 2008 and 2011 respectively. Prior to joining Collett’s they both had successful office jobs – Tony as a corporate lawyer in London and then Leeds; Jane as an Environmental Consultant. In 2005, they both decided to quit the ‘rat race’ and set off in search of somewhere to set up a walking business. They fell in love with the Pyrenees and the rest is history. Tony is now our Commercial Director, responsible for all things financial. Jane continues to manage our walking holidays in Spain – but is currently on maternity leave after the quite recent birth of Richard. They live in the French Pyrenees, but Tony is a regular visitor to our Saffron Walden offices. They know both the Pyrenees and Picos inside out, so if you have any questions – however tricky – about either, then they will almost certainly have the answer – or will know a person who does.
Rhian John
Rhian (Rhi) is our newest recruit, joining Collett’s in Summer 2009 as our host in Chalet Barbara in Arabba. She subsequently fell in love with the Dolomites and worked five more seasons both summer and winter in various roles including Chalet Host, Walks Organiser Host and Resort Manager. In May 2012, Rhi came back to the UK to join us in the office with specific responsibility for booking enquiries and sales. Since joining the office team she has spent time in both the Pyrenees and the Picos de Europa so that she can advise on enquiries concerning those destinations. She is a keen walker and snowboarder.
Contact Details
Call us on 01799 513331 if you require help or advice. Collett’s is small enough to deal with every booking with great flexibility and in considerable detail, so you get exactly what you want from your time in the mountains.
Collett’s Mountain Holidays
3a Market Hill
Saffron Walden
Essex
CB10 1HQ
tel. 01799 513331 or 0044 1799 513331 if calling from outside of the UK.
email. admin@colletts.co.uk
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