Serenity’s work experience week with the Visitor Services and Marketing team

July 10, 2026 | Holkham voices | 5 minute read

Hello my name is Serenity; and I’m going to tell you about my time at Holkham hall doing work experience with the Visitor Services team and the Marketing team.

I chose Holkham for my work experience week after having read on the website about other people’s work experience stories, so it’s come full circle now that I have made my own!

I was doing my work experience from 6th to the 10th of July 2026. The first two days I was with the Visitor services, Monday I helped in the visitor reception and the Tuesday I helped in the gift shop. Then on Wednesday and Thursday I was with the Marketing team. Friday was my final day in the gift shop.

Monday

When I arrived on Monday, I was full of nerves, but as soon as I was introduced to Alison and Michelle (staff in the visitor reception) I knew that I was going to be fine. My first task on Monday was to do a litter pick around the picnic benches, as all of Holkham Hall must look presentable and tidy for the visitors. Then I was shown what to do with the tills and how to explain where to go to first-time visitors.

Halfway through the day I was taken on a coach to the Walled Garden, where I helped Michelle to count people into the garden.

Then Alison took me on a speedy whistlestop tour of the house itself, showing me the intriguing pottery exhibits and the beautiful kitchen. This is what set Holkham hall apart from other estate houses that I have visited, due to the grand entry hall and the luxurious guest bedrooms set up.

Tuesday

On Tuesday my day was a little bit different, I was working in the gift shop with Jackie. I started my day by cleaning the A-boards outside in the courtyard with a trusty bucket of soapy water and a sponge, but that wasn’t my favourite activity though. After I watered the plants on sale, Jackie showed me the tills, and I shadowed her while she served customers.

This day in retail helped me to feel more confident speaking to members of the public an opened my eyes to all the other tasks that are done to keep the shop running other than the selling of products.

Wednesday

Wednesday I was in Marketing, with Emma, Lucy, Clem and Jo. I met Monty the dog as well!

Wednesday was an eventful day, beginning with me proofreading a document- I even found some mistakes! Then I was taken to a meeting at Pinewoods, the Holkham owned caravan park by the beach. The meeting was discussing CAMP Holkham and details such as signage and uniforms.

The meeting was highly educational as I learned what it is like in business meetings and how all the important details are handled behind the scenes.

When I got back up to the office, I was then shown by Clem how to create and edit photos on Canva for the Holkham Instagram page.  This was exciting as I got to pick which photos were used from a wide range of options – this made for a tough decision!

Thursday

Thursday began and I felt far more confident than before, and the first thing I did was schedule the Instagram photos using Hootsuite. I then scheduled more posts for various Holkham owned businesses, such as Pinewoods, with catchy captions, topped with fun emojis!

Clem and I went to a casual meeting with Richard, who was discussing the use of bikes from the cycle hire and where he wanted to shoot his film. We wandered around the outside of the hall, while Richard decided his filming locations.

I was then given a task of making some table talkers, with the already designed ones as a template.

We opened the old table talker design and then altered the colours, photos and changed the text & logo to be suitable for The Victoria, advertising the summer menu.

This was fun as it allowed me to see some of the work that goes into designing advertisements and then printing them off. This gave me a sense of accomplishment as I had physical evidence that I had made something, even if it was with tonnes of help and a template.

After printing and cutting them down to the correct size, we went down to the cafe, and it wasn’t too busy. We then replaced some old table talkers with my new ones. This filled me with joy as my designs were going into the public eye hopefully catching some people’s eyes and influencing them to visit the Vic.

Then Clem showed me the reviews, and we replied to the recent ones. This was interesting as it provides an insight into the customers opinions and how they enjoy the different services at Holkham, such as holidaymakers in Pinewoods.

Friday

My final day at Holkham was Friday, and I was back in the gift shop along with Kevin. I had been given some tasks, starting with counting items from deliveries and putting them away.

I also helped to serve customers and answer their questions.

This was a lovely experience overall and I feel like I have learnt many valuable skills that can be applied to a wide variety of jobs. Everyone at Holkham is very welcoming and extremely kind and forgiving, so no worries if you make an error!

In conclusion my week at Holkham Hall was highly educational and the whole atmosphere was friendly. I got to see behind the scenes of running a gift shop, creating social media posts and meet so my wonderful people.

So, thank you to everyone who helped make my work experience exciting and meaningful. I’m already wishing I could stay for longer!