Following in the footsteps of colleague Lucy who took a 6 month sabbatical Martyn has decided it was time for his own adventure. Martyn who joined Geest Line in October 2015 as an Accounts assistant has recently been studying hard for his AAT accounts qualification and recently achieved a staggering 98% on his last assessment!

Following this achievement Martyn felt that he had earned himself a break and requested a 12-month sabbatical which was agreed without hesitation.

Martyn will be travelling to Sydney, Australia with no objective other than “Let’s see what happens!” A free-spirit attitude many here wish they could relive from their younger days!

So what does every young man need for an adventure? A survival kit of course! This was caringly put together by members of the Geest Line team, packing in all the essentials that a young man would need on his travels.

We wish Martyn well on his travels and look forward to hearing his many stories on his return to the UK next year.

As the UK was getting used to a new Iron Lady in the shape of the Prime Minister, Geest Line found we have our own!

Susie MacGregor, who works as one of our Customer Service Agents also spends her time doing Ironman competitions.

A dedicated member of Stubbington Green Runners and Bayside Triathlon Club, when she is not assisting in the smooth running of the commercial side of Geest Line, she can be found running, swimming and riding her bike.

On July 17th she completed a 2.4 mile lake swim, a 112 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run in an incredible time of 13 hrs and 59 mins at the Bolton Ironman competition. In order to achieve this fantastic result she trained hard 6 days a week for 7 months, with early mornings and late nights, not to mention every weekend; in her own words ‘it took over her life’.

When asked if she would do it again she said ‘absolutely not’, however I am told she has been seen training as hard as ever, so watch this space!

Jim Mardle, Geest Line’s Terminal Operations Coordinator at Portsmouth, is a committee member of local charity ‘Football For Cancer’.

Each year FFC hold a spring football tournament to raise funds for local cancer charities and families in the area who are in need of extra support. There are eight teams each year and each team name represents somebody who has sadly passed away from a Cancer related illness.

Geest Line have for 2015 sponsored team Alistair “Kiwi” Walker – Alistair was a close friend of Jim’s who sadly lost his brave fight against Leukaemia in January this year. His story and those of all the other teams can be found on the ‘Football For Cancer’ web site at WWW.FFCEVENTS.COM

Geest Line are proud to support local charities and hope you will join with us in wishing team “Kiwi” every success in this year’s tournament.

If you would like to donate to ‘Football For Cancer’ 2015 please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/James-Mardle2/

Geest Line would like to congratulate Veronique Seremes on becoming the first Lady Pilot in the French West Indies. Veronique had worked as a Chief officer for SNCM Ferry company in France but had always since childhood wanted to one day become a Pilot and in December 2013 she passed her Pilot exams and in February this year joined and trained with the Pilots of Martinique. Veronique has always thought that her work as a Pilot is a vocation and not just simply a job.

We wish Veronique well and certainly welcome her on board the Geest vessels.

Please click here to see a short interview with Veronique, on French network ATV.

Geest Line would like to congratulate Christina Harding and Jorge Farias on their Wedding in Barbados on August 2^nd 2014.

Christina Harding is the Sales Manager for Seafreight Agencies, Geest Line’s agent on the beautiful island of Barbados. Christina has worked on behalf of Geest Line for many years and is well known to Geest Line staff, customers and the local shipping community. We wish them all the very best for a long and happy life together.

Geest Line were pleased to hold their 2014 Agency Conference at the Barbados Hilton Hotel in the month of May. The two day meeting was an invaluable opportunity for all Agencies to meet and discuss opportunities to drive the business forward both operationally and commercially as well as resuming acquaintances forged over a number of years.

Geest Line also had the pleasure to acknowledge the hard work of all our agents, and in particular the best performing agents in various categories,  and we would like to congratulate them all on their success:

Best Commercial Agent – Shipping Agency Services – Le Havre, France

Best Operational Agent – Seafreight Agencies Ltd – Barbados

Best Accounting Agent – Admiral Shipping Ltd – St Lucia

Best Overall Agent – Seafreight Agencies Ltd –  Barbados

Geest Line are delighted to welcome on board Donna Mitchell as Credit Controller with a view to helping Geest Line maintain a healthy balance!

Donna originally hails from Ayrshire, Scotland where she started her career in the accounts department with W.J. Knox who manufactured netting, cotton and yarn. Wishing to progress her chosen profession Donna made the decision to return to education and obtained a HND in Business Studies giving her a wider knowledge of the business world.

More recently Donna has worked for a Hampshire based Logistics company and valued customer of Geest Line where she worked with her Financial Director in all aspects of sales, purchase ledger and the all important monthly and year end accounts.

On a personal note Donna loves to run – she regularly takes part in races from 5K to wait for it… Ultra marathons! Perfect training for her new role with Geest Line.

After seven happy years with her previous employer we are very pleased to welcome Donna on board and wish her every success in her new role.