Celebration flight at Castlepoint

Published:  11 August, 2010

Managers at Bournemouth’s Castlepoint shopping park created a day to remember for maintenance staff member James Cotton, who has worked on the retail site for 25 years

He joined the staff at the old Hampshire Centre in 1985 as a caretaker, but his association with the site goes back much further - he lived on site with his caretaker father since 1972.  Even during the three-year construction of Castlepoint either side of 2000, James was still employed on the site as a security and groundsman. He was then offered his current position.
The day started with a round of golf with general manager Peter Matthews and facilities manager Nick Staton before lunch at the Haven Hotel at Sandbanks, followed by a surprise helicopter flight over Castlepoint and to Swanage via the coast and James’s home in Poole.
“It was an amazing day and the flight was the first time I have ever seen Castlepoint and the area from an aircraft – until now I have only seen aerial photos,” said James.  “It was a very special day.”