Julie Hastings talks about life after retirement from the family hotel business and why she decided to sign up as a TV and film extra

board member in the family firm, charity work, doting granny, and much more.

Extras are all those ‘normal people’ that add colour and texture to background scenes in TV and film.

It’s not as glamorous as it may sound, with long hours, inclement weather and a lot of waiting around. But Julie, who signed up with the The Extras Dept, a Belfast-based casting agency, and so far has appeared in a couple of productions, loves it.

"I’ve done a few episodes of Hope Street (the BBC NI crime serial drama filmed in Donaghadee) where I had to walk along the beach….Every time you’ve finished your shot you go and sit in a little bus and wait until you get called out again.

“I also did a legal drama called Showtrial which is out in the autumn. I was in the public gallery – I didn’t quite make it to the jury,” she laughs

“They set up a court room in a disused school called Corpus Christi in West Belfast in February. I had to be there at 6am every morning for a week and it was absolutely freezing. It was long, it was dark it was cold, but it was really good fun, you met up with a whole mixture of people.”

In another scene in that series Julie had a part sitting at the bar in Belfast’s Flame restaurant.

"Everyone else was sitting in the bar in couples, but I had to sit on my own at the bar talking to the bar staff, over and over again, pointing at the clock. It was great fun and it was warm in Flame restaurant!”

Julie, who lives in Comber, has always been a huge supporter of NI television and film. Joining forces with McComb’s coaches, she introduced the Derry Girls Experience at the Everglades Hotel (with an afternoon tea inspired by the hit Channel 4 show) and a Line of Duty experience, with lunch in the Grand Café in Hastings Hotels’ Grand Central Hotel Belfast.

So, does she harbour ambitions of becoming an actor?

"I don’t think so. I saw an awful lot of sitting around and long days. It’s about challenging myself. So far I’ve been in the background, but would like to be a little bit more in the foreground, maybe a small part.”

"The other opportunity that I got, which was quite fun, was a detective series called Harry Wild that’s on RTE and also on American TV."

That series is set in Dublin and stars her friend Jane Seymour (they met through a friend when Julie was studying in the US). And she admits she’d also love to get a part on Malpractice, a drama about the NHS’s hidden dangers.

Julie, known affectionately as ‘Lady Duck’ after the little smiling rubber ducks she introduced to the Hasting’s hotels’ bedrooms, retired from the business two years ago to take more time for herself and her family - husband John, son, Gareth, 34, daughters, Rachel, 29, and Caitilin, 25, stepdaughter, Evie, 19, and gorgeous granddaughters, Libbie, two and a half, and Danielle, two months.

"I am loving the granny chapter. The grandchildren live in Dublin, so retirement has given me the opportunity to go and see them a lot more. I quite often go up and down to Dublin in a day. My son Gareth sends me pictures all the time of how they’re getting on.”

The first thing one notices about Professor Julie Hastings is her uncanny resemblance to her late father, Sir William Hastings, the affable, larger-than-life hotelier who, from the 1960s, established a prestigious chain of hotels across Northern Ireland, including the Europa, the Everglades, the Culloden, the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa, the Stormont Hotel (sold in and Ballygally Castle Hotel.

Having established his empire, in his latter years Sir William took a step back acting as group chairman, whilst his four children, Julie, Howard, Allyson and Aileen, took care of the day-to-day running of the properties, which now also includes the Grand Central Hotel, opened in 2018.

Julie remains as a director on the Hastings board.

"It’s a nice position to be in, because I can do what I want to do, not what I have to do. I can advise and make comments, but not decisions. I’ve gone away, but I’m still there. There’s a new head of marketing, Matt McRoberts, there’s a new team and it’s about giving them advice, not telling them what to do.”

Some years ago in an interview with this newspaper Sir William referred to Julie as ‘Three Degrees’.

“My dad rather affectionately, and proudly I’d like to think, referred to me as ‘Three Degrees’, after the 1980s pop group!

"I did a BA in Social Sciences and Politics at Queen’s University, then spent a year in Atlanta at the University of West Georgia doing a Masters in the same subject. Following that I came home and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from Ulster University. Hence my three degrees."

This talented lady has also been a visiting Professor at the Ulster University Business School (UUBS) since 2013, giving back some of her experiences to students of hospitality and marketing, through lectures and mentoring.

However, since retiring she decided to step back from lecturing, but wishing to remain involved with the university and rising stars of the future, launched The Professor Julie Hastings Scholarship.

Recognising the financial challenges faced by many students, the scholarship aims to provide financial assistance to final year students at a critical juncture in their educational journey.

"I have an interest in young people doing well and I really wanted the scholarships to go to people who would really appreciate them.”

Over the next six years, two scholarships will be awarded annually to two final year students, one studying BSc Hons Culinary Arts Management and one studying BSc Hons International Hospitality Management and BSc Hons Marketing.

The first recipient, Lewis Rogers, will use his scholarship to help fund a work placement at the 3-Michelin star restaurant Geranium in Copenhagen.

Julie has also been a huge supporter of local charities, and remains so. She’s a board member and on the committee of the Mary Peters Trust.

"I really enjoy doing that. I think Lady Mary Peters is a wonderful lady and done such a lot for Northern Ireland and for young athletes. I played tennis for Ulster and Ireland back in the day, so I am very keen on supporting young athletes.”

She is also on the Ulster Branch Tennis Ireland and the Tennis Ireland boards, and is also helping out with the new paddle ball courts at Belfast Boat Club, “my club since I was 18”.

Although she no longer plays tennis, she does enjoy pickleball, a sport played with a racket that combines elements from badminton, tennis, and ping pong. She also loves to keep fit through swimming.

During her time in the family business, Julie has met countless celebrities and dignitaries, from former US President Bill Clinton to Michael Douglas, Billy Connolly and the then Prince Charles and Camilla, who in 2019 and helped Hastings celebrate its first year in business at the Grand Central Hotel.

Julie has enjoyed a tremendously rewarding career in the family hotel business, but if she hadn’t pursued that route, says she would like to have done something in travel.

“I love going on holidays. I like cruises because you can see half a dozen countries in one holiday, albeit you’re just dipping in and dipping out, but it gives you an idea that you might want to go back there and see a bit more. I’ve got a holiday home in Portstewart and I love going up there.”

“Now that I’m retired I’ll drop everything and go travelling, so I think I might have been a travel agent or a travel journalist!”