An Interview with Jo Mackay from Bookings for You

Bookings for you – an interview with owner Jo Mackay

I was recently lucky enough to go on a press trip to Tuscany courtesy of Bookings for You and had a brilliant time. The owner, Jo Mackay has grown her business from her own apartment that she rented out to having many properties across Italy and now France with a view to expand. So how does she manage it, juggling family life and making sure that all of the properties are up to scratch? I got the chance to get some answers to the burning questions I had!

A bit about Jo herself.

1. How old were you when you started your company? 35
2. How did your business start? In my ‘previous life’, I worked for Procter & Gamble. I left the company just before our second child was born as I had found that the work-life balance didn’t fit with having a family. I stepped off the career ladder for a while and enjoyed 4 years as a full time Mum which I loved. During that time, my husband and I bought a small villa in the Italian Lakes which I always rented out. When my youngest started school, I decided that there was a gap in the market and set up Bookings For You and started to rent villas and apartments for others.
3. How do you balance your job with family life? My family is incredibly important to me and it was always one of my main priorities that whatever I decided to do would fit around my family. The benefit of having an online business is that I can work flexible hours. So in the early days, I would work whilst they were at school and then late into the night once they were in bed!

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Running a company from another country.

4. How do you maintain your high standards if you are not able to check each villa personally? We have a trusted team on the ground in each region that can check the villa if I personally can’t get out to view it. However, there are literally only a handful of properties on the site that I haven’t yet seen and I already have plans to view those early in the New Year. It is really important to me to view the property personally, not only so that I can check it meets our exacting standards but also so that I can best advise holiday-makers on whether it is suitable for their needs.
5. How much travel does your role involve? I tend to travel off season when the properties are empty and tend to visit a number of properties each time I go to Italy. I probably travel to Italy 3-5 times a year.
6. How do you find new properties? Owners now approach us looking to manage their properties for them. They hear about us through word of mouth or simply via a google search. The awards we have won (including gold in the British Travel Awards in 2018) have also increased our profile and generated awareness amongst villa owners. We also have contacts on the ground in Italy that source new properties for us. And if we come across a gem when we’re travelling, we will approach the owner directly.
7. Which countries do you cover, and do you have plans to expand into other regions? 99% of our villas are in Italy. We do have a handful of properties in France and do have plans to grow our business in France in the future. However, more short term, we want to expand into other regions of Italy first. In 2020, Bookings For You are launching a range of villas in Sicily and in 2021, we hope to expand into the Amalfi Coast.

Best and Worst bits of your job?

7. What’s the best bit of your job? That’s easy! Getting to explore so much of Italy (it’s such a wonderful country) and getting to meet so many wonderfully warm-hearted Italians! And eating so much incredibly delicious Italian food whenever I am over there!!
8. And the worst? Never having a day off. I even check my emails on Christmas Day! But the job gives me the flexibility to work the hours I choose so I can always pick the children up from school, watch their sports matches and I have never had to find childcare for them during the school holidays. So I definitely wouldn’t change things. 

The practicalities of running a company.

9. Which aspects of the company do you outsource? Ever since day 1, I have always ensured that I have remained customer focused so I have always managed communications with our holidaymakers. However, I recognise that I’m not an expert in all areas so I have outsourced some of the technical website work and I have a great lady who does most of the blog and elements of our social media campaign. In the early days, I wasn’t great at delegating and tried to do everything myself. I quickly learned the value in outsourcing work to an expert!
10. How big a part of the promotion is social media? We use instagram, twitter and facebook and like the different audiences that this gives us.
11. Where do you see the company in 5 years time? I’d like to think that many of the elements we focus on as a business, such as the personal level of service, would still be there. This is our point of difference versus some of the larger companies and I wouldn’t want to lose this. I would hope that we have cracked Italy and have a portfolio of villas and apartments in regions where we don’t currently operate such as Emilia Romagna and Sardinia. Fingers crossed, we will also have a greater offering in France and perhaps will even have launched into a third country. Who knows!!
12. Are you worried about how Brexit could affect your business? Yes and no. Brexit has definitely had a negative impact on the business because of the uncertainty it has created amongst consumers and holidaymakers and the impact on the economy. That said, we can’t control that.

Why Italy?

13. What made you choose Italy as your main region? My husband and I fell in love with Italy on a holiday to the Italian Lakes in 2006, going on to purchase a holiday villa on Lake Maggiore. At the time, Lake Maggiore was relatively unknown amongst British tourists compared to its more famous neighbours – Como and Garda – and I thought it had so much to offer and wanted to share what it offered with a wider audience. I also had contacts on the lake making it easier to kick off the business there. It then made sense to expand our offering into other regions of Italy. 
14. Which is your personal favourite region of Italy? I can never choose! The amazing thing about Italy is how diverse it is so it’s impossible to pick just one area. That said, probably my favourite town is Spello in Umbria and I will always have a soft spot for Lake Maggiore because we have enjoyed so many family holidays there. That said, you can’t beat the Tuscan cities of Florence and Siena (they are probably my favourite cities in Italy) and I love the less well known regions of Marche and Puglia as they feel that little bit more authentic. I’m also looking forward to discovering much more of Sicily over the next few months and years as we expand into the island. In other words… In can’t choose a favourite!!

And finally!

15. If you weren’t doing this, what do you think you’d be doing? I am a big foodie and have always wanted to open a cafe or deli so perhaps I’d have done that if I hadn’t set up Bookings For You. Alternatively, another thing I love doing is volunteering in my local community and I think if I didn’t have the business, I would like to spend more of my time doing this. Volunteering is incredibly rewarding and I’d love to give more back.

Thank you so much for chatting to me Jo, and for answering so many questions for me! We loved our stay at your villa and can see why you have such a booming business!