A LUCKY Ellesmere Port man has become the first-ever worker in Britain to literally get paid for sleeping.
Wayne Munnelly, who works for hotel chain Travelodge, has been given the task of finding the formula for a perfect night's snooze as the firm's director of sleep.
Wayne, 35, who studied at Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, has been the company's northern area manager for the last two years looking after a total of 26 hotels.
As a result he has had a lot of experience of sleeping in hotel rooms and this prompted bosses to set him the challenge of uncovering the best way in which to get a good night's kip.
But there's a lot more to the job than just having 40 winks.
Wayne explained: 'Getting a good night's rest is very important, especially to the businesspeople who make up 50% of our customers.
'They need to wake up in the morning refreshed and ready to go to work. It's my job to make sure they get the best night possible.
'I'll be working with our design team and looking at every aspect of our rooms from the colour scheme to the layout of the furniture, and even the position of the TV and the tea and coffee.
'I will also be studying the principles of Feng Shui to find out if we can use it in our rooms. I've had a bedroom put in to my office where I can test products and I also take things like pillows home to try.'
As director of sleep he will test hotel rooms and beds across Britain, inspecting everything from showers to duvets.
And Wayne already has some top tips.
He said: 'If you're too busy thinking you won't be able to sleep properly. The solution is to get a notebook and write down all your thoughts, then put them down for the night and pick them up again in the morning.'
