After almost 50 years serving others, well-known hospitality worker Irene Parker is getting ready for a well-earned retirement.
The 66-year-old – who has worked for the last few decades in Oban and Mull – says serving people has been the “joy of her life”.
That’s despite the long hours, redundancy during Covid, and losing her beloved chef husband Malcolm nine years ago.
At every stage of her career – from dishwasher and laundry worker, to serving in some of the most well-known restaurants in Oban – she says she has been respected and encouraged throughout her career.
“I have done hundreds of weddings, funerals, Burns Suppers, Lorn Lunch Clubs and the Rotary Club over the years,” she said.
“It will be a wrench to leave.”
Irene prepares for well-deserved retirement
Irene is probably best known for her time at The Regent Hotel where she worked for more than 20 years, and before that at The Arrochor Hotel.
In the past few years, she has worked part-time at the Great Western Hotel on Oban’s Esplanade.
As she prepares for her final breakfast service on September 26 – also her birthday – she explains why she stayed in a career that involves long hours, split shifts and serving customers.
She said: “It is a great job – you meet so many people, I even met my husband.
“It is lovely to be able to give people the best of treatment when they are in your hotel.
“I learned so much from other people during my career and in these last few years, I have been passing those ideas onto others.”
She also explained how her career started.
“When I was 17 and I left school, my dad James Johnstone said I could not sit at home on my backside and I needed to get a job,” she explained.
“My mum, Marion, said that I could work in a hotel.
“At the time we had a next-door neighbour who was giving up work because she was pregnant, so she said I should apply for her job.
“I did and I got it, as a dishwasher at the Arrochar Hotel. But I decided very quickly that it was not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Irene was given other opportunities to work in other parts of the hotel and eventually started serving in the restaurant. She worked both in Arrochar and the Cobbler Hotel.
Irene also met her husband, Malcolm, as they both worked hotels together, eventually moving to the Isle of Mull Hotel.
But after a couple of seasons Irene decided she needed a new challenge.
She said: “Malcolm suggested I dropped into the Regent Hotel in Oban to see if they had any work.
“That is where I learned under the late Isobel Lafferty how to carry four plates and do silver service.
“She was my mentor and my friend. She taught me how to do weddings and functions.
“She always taught us the importance of guests being happy – and I have taken that with me my whole career.”
Irene said that after her husband died, she was cared for by her company – who even let her stay in the hotel for a few months while she found her “feet” again.
Describing one of her proudest moments, she said: “Until he died nine years ago my husband would bring the haggis into the dining room for our Burns Suppers.
“After he died I had the privilege of doing it. We had a Polish chef and the general manager was Welshman Darryl Williams, who has also since died – and they said they need a Scot to do it.
“It was very special to come out behind Torquil Telfor the piper. And it was very emotional – everyone was happy to see me do it.”
During Covid, Irene, like many others in the hospitality industry, was made redundant.
But not able to sit still for too long, she asked on a Facebook group – Information Oban if anyone had a job.
She was told the Great Western Hotel had jobs and she was asked to attend with a CV.
But when she arrived, the person doing the interviews said ‘You don’t need a CV, I know who you are.”
In retirement Irene plans to do voluntary work, maybe in one of the town’s charity shops, or helping with teas and coffees at the hospital.
“I have worked at six hotels, worked with loads of management. It has been a blast,” she said.
Graham MacQueen, businessman and former president of the Rotary Club, said: “Irene is an angel, what dedication she has had to this town.”
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