A cat at a train station was bestowed with the title of Chief of Customer Relations after staff decided that he deserves it after charming both staff and customers for the past 10 years.
Paul the Bengal cat (whose name was taken from actor Paul Newman) is also known as the “Liverpool South Parkway cat.” His daily trips to the Merseyside station has captured the hearts of all the people who meet him there.
Meet Paul in the video below.
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Video credit: Rumble
Paul started showing up at the station as a kitten and he can often be found curled up on one of the wheelchairs near platforms one to four. The lifetime bond that the Merseyrail staff have formed with him gave them the idea that they should officially welcome him into their ranks. They thought of the title because Paul is so good-natured and never fails to put a smile on the face of anyone who sees him.
Allan Rowe is a Merseyrail station assistant and he greets Paul every day.
He said: “Staff are thrilled to give Paul the title of Chief of Customer Relations because he deserves it – he’s a well-natured cat and we all love him.
“He’s very friendly and likes all the attention – sometimes he sits in very unhelpful places in the middle of the floor, but people just stop and pet him.
“If the attention gets too much for him he will wander off and sit in one of his many hidey-holes throughout the station.”
Paul isn’t stray and actually has a home just around the corner from the Liverpool South Parkway station. But he’s so sociable that he’d rather be at the train station so he can meet new people each day.
Allan, 23, from Woolton, Liverpool, added: “The first year he started coming to the station his owners kept trying to take him back, but the staff didn’t mind him being here at all and we have welcomed him as one of our own.
“I’ve heard that his owners have several cats with different celebrity names, but Paul doesn’t get on with those cats too well which is why he hangs out elsewhere.”
It’s no surprise that Paul has become a local celebrity and even has a Facebook page that has 3,000 likes. Some people even venture to the station just so that they can meet Paul and pet him.
And surely to Paul’s delight, the Merseyrail staff keep him fed throughout the day. This is apart from the customers who shower him with treats and special toys.
Allan added: “He’s not a fan of the cold, so in the winter he spends time sitting in the ticket offices underneath the heater.
“In the summer he will sit on top of a black BMW outside the station basking in the heat.
“When he’s sat on the ticket gates to keep warm, some people even show him their tickets for his seal of approval!”
Replaced!