Call centre boss Martin Dove is one of those people you see drinking a pint of
lager early in the morning at the airport before jetting off abroad.
However, Dove, 40, the managing director of call centre consultancy Merchants,
insists he only indulges in that kind of behaviour when he is going on
holiday. On business trips he enjoys a drink but keeps it moderate and later
in the day.
“I don’t want you making out that I’m some sort of alcoholic,” he laughs. “I
only have one beer at that time in the morning on holiday, but I do like to
do it, just to remind myself that I’m not on business. I travel so often for
business and I’ll always be laid down with a laptop and work at the airport.
It is so nice sometimes to be free of all that and have a pint – even if it
is at 8am.”
Dove has been with the company for 20 years and has worked his way up from
manning the phones. Merchants run call centres in various countries and
offer a consultancy service and Dove has 2,500 people working for him.
Although he is based in Milton Keynes, he travels every month to places like
South Africa, Australia and America to visit colleagues and clients to speak
at industry events.
Do you have a drink on a business flight?
Of course. I put on the pretence that I’m not going to. I’ll be in business
class, they’ll come round with the champagne, and I’ll only have water. But
later on in the flight, I’ll have a couple of glasses of wine, do some work
and go to sleep. I’ll always watch half a film and can never remember what
I’ve seen. I also love the fact I can do a bit of work, but I’m not a big
fan of allowing mobile phones on flights. I don’t want to be interrupted.
What’s the scariest flight you’ve been on?
I definitely thought I was going to die on a flight from Cape Town to
Johannesburg. We couldn’t land because of a storm and had to go to Durban.
It was very frightening because the pilot was accelerating, then slowing
down, and doing all these unfamiliar moves. You don’t want your pilot to do
anything unfamiliar. Another time, shortly after 9/11, I was flying into
Washington Dulles and the pilot just aborted and didn’t say anything. Of
course, everyone thought we’d been hijacked. Then the pilot just came on the
tannoy and apologised, but said he couldn’t land because there was a plane
on the landing strip which was in our way.
Any embarrassing moments?
I was living in Los Angeles and had to go to Mumbai for a conference. I
thought I would fly out there early, get there on Saturday and have plenty
of time to explore the area. I got half way round the world to Mumbai, where
it was pointed out to me that I needed a visa. I begged, cried and tried
everything, but they wouldn’t let me in! I had to fly to London, via Milan,
get a visa at India House at the Aldwych and then fly back to Mumbai. I
arrived absolutely shattered, just in time for the conference. It wasn’t my
finest weekend. Actually, I’m not sure I want anyone to know that! But if
any good came out of it, it is that I can offer some very sound travel
advice: check if you need a visa in the destination you are travelling to,
before setting off.
Which airport do you use?
I go from Heathrow because it is fairly accessible from Milton Keynes and I’ve
been using the new Terminal 5. From a travel perspective, I’ve never had a
problem but the design of it is a bit weird. I often travel with British
Airways and getting to their lounge in Terminal 5 is a challenge. It’s just
a really complicated walk and difficult to find, which is strange when you
think it is purpose built for them. Apart from that, I can’t really knock
the terminal, although I’ve never had to check any bags in.
