Barrhead Travel staff have opted to donate a portion of their salary to the family of a popular colleague who passed away suddenly.
Craig Stevenson (pictured third from right) was fondly remembered as “truly larger than life”, “a mentor to many” and “a man of his word” after the 36-year-old suffered a heart attack last month.
He had worked for the Scottish agency chain for more than 15 years across a number of stores and head office roles.
Following Craig’s death, Barrhead gave staff the option of donating part of their January salary to support his family, with £3,500 raised so far.
Family, friends and colleagues gathered in Clydebank, Glasgow, for his funeral on Monday (February 18), with attendees asked to wear an item of colourful clothing.
Barrhead has also named a new area in its Oswald Street flagship store in the city – which houses departments such as marketing and HR – The Hub, on Craig’s suggestion.
A business-wide minute’s silence was also held on Monday.
Angela Gemmell, regional sales manager for Barrhead, said Craig, who would have celebrated his 37th birthday on Tuesday (February 19), had been “a huge influence and support” during her career with the company.
The pair opened Barrhead’s Braehead branch as joint-assistant managers, before he became her deputy manager at the agency’s Silverburn store.
“We grew really close and relied on each other so much. If you needed a smile he would always light up the room. He was just so passionate,” Gemmell told TTG.
Nichola O’Brien, Barrhead’s head of sales support, added Craig was “the definition of a team player”.
Sandals business development manager for Scotland, Gary Atwell, described Craig as “a pleasure to work with”.
“As soon as he returned from a fam, he promised he would get the bookings in and that’s exactly what he did… he was such a funny and lovely guy and a man of his word," he said.