Seasons greeting to you all. We hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous Christmas and New Year.  It has been a tough year, however we will soon be clearer and know what we are dealing with, with the outcome of Brexit.

It seems so long since the Hospitality Assured Awards and so much has happened. This is a long overdue newsletter and our last networking event had to be postponed due to numerous ongoing projects and assessments. Apologies – we have big plans for next year.

What a great industry this is to work in. The worlds your oyster; you can do anything, go anywhere and it’s one of the most skilled.  The skill is challenging, constantly changing, demanding and takes years of continuous learning.  Whatever your job role within the industry, the skill is about dealing with people to deliver outstanding service both internally to our employees and externally to our customers.

It is an exciting and satisfying career and although a huge industry, if you are dedicated and achieve, it’s like being in one big happy family

We have been talking about the recruitment crisis for years it’s nothing new and nothing changes, perceptions continue to be of low skills, low pay and long hours and one that parents do not consider for their children.  At the UK Hospitality's Summer Conference, Fred Sirieix - GM at Galvin at Windows, the London Hilton at Park Lane, said ‘We need to give them a reason to love us' – Fred Sirieix , and Harry Murray - Chairman of Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa went on to say "We have to treat our staff like we treat our customers we have to convince parents, teachers, career teachers, that this is a good industry to work in."  Hotelier of the Year 2019 Sally Beck has called on the industry to change the perception of hospitality careers into an industry of choice for the young people of Britain.  Sally is exploring a Hoteliers' Charter and has the backing of high profile individuals in Hospitality.   A recent round table hosted by our charity partner Springboard and Gig, highlighted that increased training, support for middle managers and greater engagement with educational establishments is the way forward’  read more about it here. Hospitality Assured Director Max Lawrence challenges you to ‘Think out of the box to solve the recruitment crisis’.  Finally (research and numerous other theories are too many to mention) one thing you can do is to sign up to the Hospitality Commitment developed by People 1st International, with the intention to highlight the diverse career opportunities across the sector and show that the industry is working together to be seen as an employer of choice.

Nothing gives us greater pleasure than visiting our clients and seeing the growth of an organisation and the passion of their teams. A 2018 Gallup study revealed 85 percent of employees function below their potential and don’t feel engaged at work. Therefore, we urge all organisations to inspire, motivate, develop and recognise employees and let them tell the world what an amazing industry this is to work in.  The Hospitality Assured Community are all committed to service and business excellence so Brexit or no Brexit we all know what we have to do.

We are so delighted to welcome a new client Cambridge Manor Care Home part of TLC Care (pictured above), and many congratulations on achieving Premier status for their first full assessment.  Well done to Serco Leisure who recently gained the contract for Stoke Mandeville Stadium and undertook their first full assessment under the new regime and Contract Manager, James Ewart, and achieved a higher score.  Well done and welcome James. We are now working with The National Water Sports Centre another Serco Leisure contract.

Our long term client the University of Portsmouth extended their assessment to include two more halls of residence and went on to achieve Premier Status overall, a fantastic achievement. However, we are sad to say goodbye to George Heir FIH, retired Interim Head of Residential Services, who has worked at the university for 24 years and was a real ambassador for Hospitality Assured and commented; ‘The Hospitality Assured Framework has been fundamental in informing our business planning/strategy and has certainly influenced my professional development over the years’. 

We also say a sad goodbye to Giovanni Valentini (Head of Hotel Services at TLC Care) and good luck to Alina Pa’un who has been promoted into this position. Congratulations to Lancashire School & Residential Care Catering on achieving an amazing score and Premier Status. A sad goodbye to Oxford Brookes who have also been a long standing member of our Community. 

Hopefully we haven't missed any here, apologies if we have!.

‘The CTO began the journey with Hospitality Assured in 2007, in order to strengthen the business performance and overall competitiveness of tourism enterprises in the Caribbean. A spokesperson commented, “Since then we have built a relationship with our members to promote a culture of quality, service excellence and continuous improvement, through the use of this business improvement tool and framework which is internationally recognised.  2019 was a prosperous year for our members with 11 companies successfully gaining certification,” namely: Karanambu Lodge, King’s Hotel and Residences, Roraima Duke Lodge – all from Guyana; Cox and Company Limited and Southern Taxi Association – St. Lucia; The Boardwalk Village – Jamaica; Ocean Terrace Inn – St. Kitts and Nevis; Oualie Beach Resort – Nevis; Bakers Suite – St. Maarten; Island Magic Beach Resort – Belize; and Hotel Alexandrina - St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Cox and Company Limited stated “HA allowed us to examine our business in a systematic manner to see the value of what we are doing, appreciate it and get more value from it"

If you are a non-member we encourage you to join the Institute to obtain free access to a wide range of member benefits including useful management guides, eg. Managing Continuity Planning in Hospitality, and Hospitality Apprenticeships. The IoH Connect has recently been launched giving you access to great IoH resources; HQ Magazine, Management Guides, White Papers, Management Standards and more via the free, user friendly app.
Some of our Hospitality Assured clients are seeing the benefits of the Institute's company sponsored membership, find out more information here

The Institute of Hospitality webinars are a series of informative and educational online presentations, available to members and non-members. They have been designed to help you advance in your professional career and business - we've listed the up and coming dates below in our dates for your diary.

2020 might be time for something different for your customer service training. Why not consider Fish training based on the famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. Make your training fun, participative to engage employees and show them how changing your attitude can impact on more enjoyment in your work and your life. There are a wide range of training resources and videos available and why not invite your fish supplier for their support!

(Diane Dibley, MD at BQF with Trisha Bennett, Hospitality Assured)

2020 sees the start of a review of the Hospitality Assured Standard and process. We are working towards digital transformation, being paperless as possible (do we hear a sigh of ‘PHEW!), increased accessibility for hospitality sectors, and development of a lighter touch model for our smaller businesses of which there are so many who need straightforward support. We are at the start of our journey and in negotiations with the British Quality Foundation (above), as Hospitality Assured is based on the European Foundation of Quality Management, which they represent, to decipher the way forward. Please send us any suggestions that you would like us to consider.

Hospitality Assured were delighted to be a sponsor of the 'New Tourism Business' category this week at the Beautiful South Awards hosted by Simon Calder, travel journalist and broadcaster at The Grand, Brighton

80 of the very best tourism businesses and experiences in the South East were presented with gold, silver and bronze trophies in recognition of their achievements over the last eighteen months and 24 businesses were awarded Commended.