Meet the Team...Finding exclusive holidays for you
Sarah Stanley
Director
Founder of UHS, Sarah puts the ‘m’ in multitasking. With a background in farming, Sarah spent a good few years travelling the world before settling in Australia for 12 years. Returning to her Cornish roots in 2000 to turn the seed of an idea into a reality, Sarah launched Unique Home Stays identifying a niche in the market for exclusive holidays and began the business from her living room whilst juggling a day-job and three young children – Morgane, Josh and Bryce. A keen horse rider, latterly Sarah has had few spare hours in the day to indulge in hobbies, but now that there’s a larger team at UHS, she is planning to be able to spend a little more time away from the computer;! A wealth of knowledge on anything UHS, and renowned for hatching a new idea a day, Sarah’s enthusiasm, zeal and passion for the company is contagious, just don’t ask her to do anything technical – she has an aversion to the credit card machine!
Michaela Hamshaw
Office Manager
With the patience of a saint, Michaela aka ‘The Accountant’ is the soothing voice that explains to the rest of the team for the umpteenth time how VAT works! A Cornish lass born and bred, after a spell living in London with her husband, Michaela moved back to Cornwall in 1999 to start a family, and joined UHS in 2005. With a background in customer services, Michaela is by far the most pragmatic member of the team, a brilliant trouble-shooter and general ray of sunshine in the office. Out of the office, Michaela loves karate, swimming, walking the dogs and cheering on her son in karate competitions... she has even been known to compete herself! Having fallen in love with the Isles of Scilly, we fear that she might be requesting to remote-access in from the islands!
Kahdine Weldhen
Property Operations Manager
Whilst a Cornish girl at heart, Kahdine’s sense of adventure has lead her to the more distant shores of Indonesia and Australia and can often be found mapping her next overseas trip. A keen equestrian and animal lover, Kahdine spends most of her spare time hacking the moors or mucking out the stables. At the weekend Kahdine dons her heels and often heads to the city to enjoy a London show and take advantage of the enviable shops before returning to more laid back living in Cornwall. With over 7 years experience in the Financial Industry, Kahdine joined UHS in March 2010 having recently been appointed Property Operations Manager.
Jess Clark
Press & Marketing Manager
Jess is originally from Wales, and can often be found heading valley-ward of a weekend. After a couple of years travelling in the southern hemisphere, Jess headed back to the UK to find an equally beautiful NZ-equivalent in Cornwall (though she does tend to pine for warmer climes during the long, dark winter months.) With a degree in English, although most renowned for her malapropisms, Jess enjoyed an eclectic selection of ‘character building’ jobs, then working for a couple of years as a journalist at Cornwall Today magazine before joining UHS. Possibly possessing the least geographical know-how of the team, Jess feels most comfortable when sat in front of her map of the UK. With toddler Lola to keep her busy, Jess can mostly be found building sand castles at the beach when not in the office.
Claire Ray
Press Liaison Officer
With a degree in Media and Linguistics, Claire graduated from Cardiff University in 2000 and went to find those infamous golden pavements of London town. She started work as a runner in a Post Production facility and her claim to fame was polishing the Oscar once a week before reluctantly returning it to its case. Moving on through the ranks as a Receptionist, Office Manager and Assistant Producer, Claire worked at the Whitehouse film editing company in Soho for six years before the call of the sea and her lovely husband lured her back to the Westcountry. Plymouth born and Plymouth proud Claire is an avid Plymouth Argyle fan and can be seen on the terraces during the footy season supporting the ‘mighty’ Green Army. Claire loves living in Cornwall and enjoys walks on the beach, kayaking down the river on a lazy summer's afternoon or sharing a bottle of vino with her surf widow girlfriends whilst their other halves hit the waves! Creative Claire also has a sideline in making cushions, bunting, and anything else she can fashion out of a piece of quirky fabric.
Richard Taylor
Corporate Marketing and Event Coordinator
Richard grew up in the exotic location of Bordon, Hampshire, and recently finished his degree in Journalism at the University of Winchester. He’s been longboarding for a while now, and is currently trying to transfer his board experience onto the waves (with limited success to date) A keen musician, he plays Saxophone, guitar and has just started learning Ukulele. Richard has come on board to focus on driving forward the corporate section of the company, from arranging team building days to incentive breaks. The cheeky chappie of the office, Rich is rarely seen without a smile on his face as he creates unique and exciting packages for our properties.
Tabitha Corbett
Accounts Assistant
Possessing the most creative doodles of the team, ever since her arrival in the UHS office in January 2008, as well as organising all the UHS paperwork Tab has been allocated role of chief birthday card designer! When she’s not painting, drawing or making things, sea-loving Tab, who’s originally from the Roseland peninsula, loves snorkelling, the sunshine and generally spending most of her time with her toes in the sand. Planning to wed, with a head full of dresses, venues and invitations, it’s a wonder that Tab can concentrate on sorting us all out; but there’s no unpaid monies due, no form left unsigned with the queen of the spreadsheets, dividers and filing system at the accounts helm!
Lucy Thompson
House Party Co-ordinator
Lucy grew up in the fresh air and green dales of North Yorkshire and enjoyed the stylish lifestyle of Harrogate living. Lucy and her husband Neil were soon tempted by the sun, sand and surf of the Cornish coastline so moved to Newquay some 7 years ago where they enjoy a more peaceful way of life by the sea. Having had a varied career, predominately in sales, Lucy was integral to the development and successful integration of a superb retirement village in Cornwall where she met and still keeps in touch with the residents. Lucy joined UHS in August of 2008 with a focus on the sales and development of our ‘for sale’ section, her thirst for knowledge saw her more recently undertake her RYA Onshore Skippers which she passed with flying colours, watch this space for Lucy’s next challenge! The very recent and welcome addition to the Thompson family has arrived and Lucy is now a proud mum to a beautiful baby girl Amelia.
Samantha Lygo
House Party Co-Ordinator
Whilst Sam was born in Italy and grew up in London, the country life beckoned and she and her family moved to Cornwall some 15 years ago. Her passions are for horses and all things equine, she regularly can be found mucking out in her wellies before taking part in the local jumping and dressage events, the rosettes speak for themselves! Sam has spent most of her career within the hospitality industry with a more exotic stint in one of Dubai’s fabulous Ramada Hotels. Her interest and love in renovating beautiful homes became a real passion after Sam undertook a renovation project of her own converting a traditional Cornish farmhouse to its former glory. Mother of James, now 7 and a keen bodyboarder, Sam deals with the wedding enquiries as well as general House Party bookings.
Catherine Weldhen
House Party Co-Ordinator
The youngest member of the team with a passion for fashion; from Newquay nights to Sunday roasts, Catherine loves nothing more than kicking back and relaxing at home on the farm. As happy reclining in the hot tub of an evening with a glass of wine as donning her wellies and enjoying rural walks with one of her six dogs in tow, coast-loving Catherine can be found reclining sand-under-foot during warmer months. Sharing the family roost with cats, chicken and pigs, whether chilling out at the farm or heading out on the town of a weekend, Catherine brings a touch of glamour to the UHS team. Not a lover of ‘hobbies’ per se, socialising is top of the agenda when Catherine’s not busy manning the phones at UHS.
Bethany Conlay
House Party Co-Ordinator
Bethany joined UHS at the end of summer 2009. Cornish born, Bethany has had a varied career including local care-work and more recently the hospitality industry turning her hand to anything from waitressing to chefing. Bethany and her family continue to run a very successful catering business, and thankfully for the team, the occasional chocolate cake finds its way to the office! Bethany can often be found with her nose in a good book or walking the banks of the River Fal with her gorgeous Irish Wolfhound, Paddy. Bethany has taken the plunge now and as well as working part time at UHS, has embarked on her further studies of Physics, Chemistry, further mathematics with a view to completing a logistics degree.
Bethany Lewis
B&B Property Advisor
A country girl at heart, Bethany was brought up in the rugged Yorkshire Dales, later moving down to Herefordshire to be surrounded by ancient orchards and stunning wildlife. After visiting her brother in Padstow, Bethany was lured by the charms of the quaint fishing village and set her sights on moving to the county. A keen ‘foodie’, Bethany loves nothing more than browsing food markets and delis, before whipping up a culinary storm in the kitchen! A keen cyclist, runner and rower, Bethany is excited about exploring the wilds of Cornwall. With a degree in Business Management and English Literature and an enthusiasm for architecture, history and luxurious decor, Bethany joins the team as B&B Property Advisor.
Dave Marks
Web Developer
Dave, thanks his lucky stars that he’s not based in the same office all week as all the girls, who look at him blankly as he launches into what they class as ‘tech speak’ as such Dave gets quite of lot of ribbing from his co-workers, who he is sure endeavour to make his life as difficult as possible by sending through a constant stream of website requests. UHS called upon Dave in its infancy, at which point he rebuilt the site you see today from scratch and has been responsible for its on-going evolution ever since. How he finds time to actually do any work for anyone else is a miracle, although UHS is just one of an ever-growing client base both in and outside of the county. During the rare moments that he manages to escape from in front of the computer, Dave can be found pursuing an in-depth study of the locally brewed delicacies.
Michael Owen
Photographer
Transforming the property pages within the portfolio, Michael heads all over the UK taking the best pictures of our properties to ensure that we are showcasing your home to the best of its potential. When not behind the lens, Mike likes to partake in a spot of fly-fishing and cricket. Currently living in Berkshire Mike hopes to make the move to Cornwall with his family in the not too distant future.
Hayley Spurway
Journalist
Having spent years trotting the globe, from the ski slopes of Europe to the vineyards of Australia, Hayley came back to the UK and got her first proper job at a travel magazine. A swift three years in London was more than enough to make her see sense, so she swapped the rat race for beach life when she relocated to Cornwall in 2003. With a passion for writing and the great outdoors, she now writes for various magazines, websites and guidebooks whilst freelancing for Unique Home Stays. Hayley aims to get a non-fiction book or two under her belt before living out the rest of her working days as a lollipop lady and novelist. Mum to Oli, Hayley can often be found power-walking with baby on back through the dunes