Meet The Team: Cath Healy

Cath is passionate about festivals, good music and delivering the best service.

We sit down with Cath to learn about where it all started, discussing everything from customer reviews to Oasis fans to Blake-7.

What is your job role?

Business Development Manager which basically means I talk to lots of people and try to show them how working with booking protect can benefit them and their customers.

How did you get started with Booking Protect?

I knew Cat Spencer, the director, before I came to work for booking protect, we’d worked together in the heady field of insurance claims. I was working in Worcester at the time and she rang me up and said how do you feel working for me? I was slightly reticent as I did not see myself as a sales person. But Booking Protect is amazing – its not like selling windows – it actually does what it says on the tin and I’ve never come across something that can help customers and also help our client partners as well. It’s a real win-win-win.

What’s different at Booking Protect which you haven’t seen working anywhere else?

I think because it’s a really responsive organisation you can have huge impact on change really – on making changes. If you come up with an idea, put it to the directors, then that can actually be taken on board and integrated and ran with.

In a lot of large companies you are a cog in a machine. Whereas in an organisation like Booking Protect, you’re a critical component and you can have real input into how we do things and how we can improve things. Not just to our day to day operations but to the clients and to our end users.

What are the elements of your job you enjoy which others wouldn’t necessarily know about?

I actually like going to the conferences. I like being in front of people – except when they say come and do a presentation in front of 80 people – just sort of chatting to people really. Because we are not here to sell, its more of an education piece, we’re real people, we are not trying to present ourselves as something we’re not, we are just relatable.

We try and show that what we are trying to achieve is a benefit to them, its not just about me trying to make a sale. I’m not trying to flog them a dead donkey – I know if they turn Booking Protect on it will benefit them, so I can be really confident about that. I’m not having to make things up or put a little lipstick on the farm animal, it is really a case of “Look, refund protection is really good, we can help you.” And hopefully that’s what you see by interacting with us.

What’s the best festival or music event you’ve been to?

I’ve been to Glastonbury a few times, I’ve had mixed experience there. I went when The Cure was headlining it. The downside of Glastonbury is the British weather, I’ve been where its lashed it down solidly for five days, and the sun comes out for half an hour. And I’ve also been there when its been so hot you feel like you were in the middle of desert.

I went to an Oasis gig in Finsbury Park, the day time was great the Charlatans were great, BRMC… and then all the Oasis fans turned up and it was just terrible after that.

What festival is on your list?

I’d maybe go to a big American festival. Coachella or something a bit legendary.

What’s your favourite album?

I’m a bit of an indie girl at heart. A bit of Oasis, a bit of Elbow, a bit of Snow Patrol. That’s where I’m comfortable.

What’s been your best moment while at Booking Protect?

We had a tour of radio city music hall in New York city. I love New York. We were given the backstage tour of all the areas where the dancers are, and the moving stage, and its legendary so that was impressive to see those areas that you don’t normally see.

What was your first job?

As a bar person, working in a pub that was run by friends with my parents. In a slightly dodgy area of Birmingham. I was thrown into the deep end, shoved in the bar with all the regulars, who use to have the beer equivalent of cocktails, in the sense that you had bottle beers and you had draft beers, and they all had different combinations of the two. Like a black and tan, or a 50/50, or a Donald duck, or Mickey Mouse.

If you were an instrument, what would you be and why?

A guitar. It can be cool, it can be classical.

What was your favourite TV show from 20 years ago?

I was working in nightclubs at that point. I was a sci-fi nerd in my childhood, so back then I liked Blake-7.

Secret Hobbies?

I love sport actually. I play golf, every Wednesday evening I go for my lessons. I’m trying to get a group of people together so we can go play.

What’s your perfect Sunday?

A lie in, followed by a lazy brunch somewhere, eggs benedict or maybe a cup of tea, and then something maybe fizzy and alcoholic to go with it, depends what kind of mood I’m in. And then knocking out the Sunday dinner, got to have roast on a Sunday, lamb roast.

If you could recommend one event that is a must-watch?

It would have to be something like Hamilton. I haven’t seen it yet, but whenever you talk about it, everybody has it on their list you have to do. If you’d have asked me about ten years ago I’d have said the Producers. I saw it in the West End when Nathan lane came over to do it. A-mazing!