Richard Smith, Visitor Attraction Consultant

Most recently, Rich was Operations Director for Blue Reef Leisure where he oversaw operations of three public aquariums in Newquay, Portsmouth & Tynemouth. Rich has had a varied career starting out in farming and then the construction industry where he has successfully managed site based projects. This combination of practical skill, time and financial management has meant that capital expenditure projects come in on time and on budget.

At Blue Reef Leisure, Rich was responsible for all aspects of financial budgeting throughout all departments, ensuring that seasonal adaptations were implemented as appropriate for marketplace. He also was active in motivating management teams to achieve budgeted objective from visitor numbers, spend per head and cost control.

Staffing and team management are vital aspects in the success of any attraction. Rich oversaw the interview, recruitment and on-going performance of key staff as well as management of welfare and contractual obligations. He also conducted the quality management programme, running audits at regular periods throughout the year to ensure that the visitor experience and management obligations (health and safety/emergency procedures) were being operated to legal and expectation levels. Health and safety is of paramount importance in any visitor based attraction so in addition to the IOSH managing safely, Rich has also attended specialist seminars in attraction Safety management with IAAPA.

One of Rich’s achievements was his pioneering work in the rescue and rehabilitation of Loggerhead Turtles in Cornwall. As well as managing the intensive care for the turtles, he successfully teamed this with high profile media coverage exploiting national and local television, radio and press as well as appearances on Blue Peter and The Really Wild Show.