Mail order & Lorna Bantock

Lorna Bantock – partner & administrator

Lorna was ordained as a minister in the United Reformed Church in 2003. Although her ministry is part time it is a demanding one and she is not always in the office. She tries to be here daily from 08h00 to – 09h00 and from 16h45 to 18h00 so please call then if you need to speak to her.

Lorna is a Southampton graduate in French & Spanish and worked as a teacher before moving on to banking until 1986 when she joined SAILSetc full time.

Radio sailing is definitely not Lorna’s cup of tea. Her ministerial role keeps her more than fully occupied but she does find time for some badminton in order to keep trim.

Ambrose

The cat. New to SAILSetc in 2001 but has been around for 7 or 8 years before that. He is a large white and ginger tom from an ecclesiastical background. He has impressed us by climbing up and onto the porch roof from where he jumped into our bedroom window two nights running after we put him out for the night. Rarely seen on the premises as he prefers to spend as much time as possible sleeping in the cosiest place he can find.

Mail Order

The office and mail order areas merge into one. As in most small businesses, the hub is the phone, fax and computer. When you visit, phone, send a fax or e-mail us, this is where your enquiry is dealt with. This department is located in the upper floor extension over the access drive to the barn workshops.

Both Chris and Athene have left us recently and we are a little understaffed in this area at present. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, we are up to date with almost all orders. Anticipating the normal increase in orders over the winter and spring months we are looking at how we will supplement our man/woman-power resources in order to maintain this happy state.

Finished and packeted fittings, plans and rigging are stored here ready for collecting together prior to packing for the post. The assembly of fittings, normally by Philip Vinton now, also takes place in this work area. Philip gets occasional assistance from Sam McCall, a student who started his association with SAILSetc by doing his work experience with us.

Immediately adjacent to the mail order department, but on the upper floor of the original barn workshop, is the sailmaking area.