If you were expecting Steve Jones, the new British Consul, to be an old-school-tie fifty-something diplomat, then you would be in for something of a surprise. Young (he?s in his 30s) tanned and immaculately groomed, Steve took time out of his hectic schedule in his first week as Consul to give Lifetimes an exclusive interview.

Originally from Manchester, Steve was previously the British Consul in Gran Canaria looking after all seven of the Canary Islands, but he is no career diplomat, having worked in hospitality, tourism and the airline industries. A 12 year period with Thomas Cook resulted in him becoming Regional Manager for the Canary Islands, and from there it was a relatively easy move into the Consulate. Steve?s appointment marks a new direction for the Consulate, as he explains "What the Consulate has done is look a little further afield for people with skills from outside of the diplomatic service. The British Consul in Palma is from the banking industry, while the Consul in Alicante is from telecommunications industry and their success had spurred the department to look outside for people who can do this job, but put a different slant to it.

"My focus has always been customer service, and it?s been interesting to see how you can bring customer service from the private sector and make it relevant to the public sector. It?s been really challenging to do that, but we are lucky that the Consul General and the Ambassador are very forward thinking, as is the Foreign Office. They are looking at how we can best serve our customers within guidelines. It would be great to say that we need to double the staff and cut waiting times down from ten to five minutes, but as a public service we have to make sure that we offer value for money as well"

As you would expect from such a customer-orientated background, one of Steve?s first tasks will be letting the British community what the Consulate can and cannot do,

"I?m working with the team here and to make sure that we can offer the services that British nationals can expect from their consulate, and that those services are consistent with the rest of Spain. I want to get out as much as I can and let people know what we can or cannot do and what they can expect from their Consulate.

"I also want to look at ways that we can improve our customer service across Andalusia. We have Honourary Consuls across Andalusia, but we are just about to launch and recruit one more, so we are trying to expand our reach across Andalusia, to make sure that those people who are based in Almeria, for example, don?t have to come to Malaga. We are trying to take our services to the customer, rather that the other way around".

Steve is also eager to work in partnership with other organisations "We work with three big set of partners, which are the Department of Work and Pensions, Age Concern and the Royal British Legion. We are also improving our relationships with others such as tour operators, the Spanish authorities, such as the Junta de Andalucia and various town halls, and we?ve got our finger in lots of pies along the coast".

He admits to having been a little daunted by the position of Consul for Andalusia (he is Consul for Ceuta and Mellia as well) "I looked at the map that Rossyln (the Vice Consul) put up in my office on my first day and though "Oh God! Look at the size of that!" But previous to this I was looking after seven islands, so I was flying at least twice a week or on ferries or helicopters. At least here you can drive, which makes it a little easier.

"Although it?s a little daunting, one of the benefits of having Honourary Consuls, means that I?ve got people in places such as Jerez, Granada and Seville who are available should things start to go wrong. They form that first line of defence so that if I can?t get anybody there immediately, at least I?ve got somebody around who is trained and who knows what they are doing, before the team get there and start dealing with things."

Steve sees his role as very much hands on "I?m in touch with the Honourary Consuls and the Consuls from other nationalities to see what is happening, and I want get out and about and talk to residents, which I think is important. I want to see what people are doing and what kind of problems they are facing and make sure that they are aware of what we can and cannot do."

This is an important point, and one that Steve is keen to stress "We can?t people better treatment here - that?s a popular misconception. We have to abide by the local laws, so if you?re in hospital or have been incarcerated we can?t move you into a private hospital or get you released. We don?t pay for people to go back to the UK, but we try and work with people that can help. It is public money and we are accountable for all our finances. We?re not a cash point and a get-out-jail card, and it?s important that people understand that. What I would ask people to do is look at the guide that we produce or look online at www.ukinspain.fco.gov.uk for what we can or cannot do, including a range of notarial services that are quite often cheaper that other services around in Spain.

"People don?t know about us because they don?t need our help, but those that do find our help invaluable. We look after our prisoners, hospital visits and there is a lot of detailed assistance work as well, so that when things go wrong we are there to pick up the pieces and help people out".

Being British Consul in Andalusia may be a difficult task, but with his obvious charm and customer skills, Steve Jones looks like being the perfect man for the job, and his enthusiasm for the region is apparent "I love the area: it?s so varied. You can go from the mountains to the beach in one day, and I don?t know how many other places there are on the planet that you can do that. And then you?ve got such classic cities such as Seville, Cordoba, Huelva and Jaen. It?s just fantastic!"