TWO Vazon Bay staff who faced being homeless at Christmas waved goodbye to the hotel yesterday after being offered jobs at the Longfrie. Josie Vialli and Gemma Keating both featured in the Guernsey Press article breaking the news that the hotel and No. 44 Restaurant had been closed by owner Alan Jackson because he no longer had the money to keep them going.
After reading that the girls had no money because Mr Jackson had not paid their wages, Longfrie licensee Kevin Bridgewater invited the pair to meet him at the hotel.
‘We went up on Friday, met everyone and started work on Saturday,’ said Ms Vialli, formerly Mr Jackson’s PA.
‘We are really happy, it’s been brilliant. All the staff are lovely and everyone has been great. We are really grateful to everyone who has supported us over the last few weeks. People have been really kind.’
Staff at the Vazon Bay had been left with an uncertain future after the closure left them without jobs, money or a place to live.
Landlord George Wilkinson had offered to let staff stay at the ‘Vaz’ for an extra two weeks free of charge and Ms Vialli said most had now found other jobs with accommodation.
She added that the girls were very grateful to Mr Wilkinson and Mr Bridgewater.
‘We have been very lucky,’ she said. ‘Kevin is a really nice guy and it sounds like he has a lot of great plans for the place.
‘It’s all worked out really well and a lot of the people who used to drink down the Vaz have said they will now come up to the Longfrie, so hopefully we will bring Kevin a bit of business as well.’
Ms Keating, barmaid at the Vazon Bay, said the response from people since the article had been great.
‘If the paper had not helped us out, we would probably still be at the Vaz and not knowing what to do,’ she said.
‘We had no idea what was going to happen but thanks to the articles we are now working in a place that we will really enjoy. The Longfrie is fantastic.’
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