HOSPITALITY STAFF COMMIT TO 2600 HOURS OF TRAINING

A team of furloughed Edinburgh hospitality staff managed to obtain 2600 hours training in the last year which has resulted in 169 industry- related qualifications.

They are employed by Ten Hill Place, the city’s largest independent hotel, which is owned by Surgeons Quarter who operate various establishments owned by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

The training was managed by the hotel’s appointmrnt of a Business and Talent Manager.

The hotel created a training blueprint to help their furloughed employees with their employment prospects and aspirations; while adhering to the employment outline devised by the government in order to keep their personnel safe at the same time. 

The role of Business and Talent Manager was taken by Sarah Williamson (pictured) who has a background in working for hotel chains like Double Tree by Hilton and the Glasgow Westerwood Spa & Golf Resort.

Ms. Williamson commented: “Multiskilling is going to be the biggest aspiration in the hospitality industry after Covid-19 as many venues will have a smaller team, so staff will be required to do a bit of everything.

“There was a lot of amazing training happening within the industry whilst many were furloughed and we encouraged all 60 members of staff to take part and gain full advantage of the opportunities.

“We have supplied laptops and tablets for individuals to complete training to ensure the opportunities were available and accessible to all staff.”

The hotel’s personnel have been encouraged to participate in training programmes offered by hospitality industry companies such as HIT Scotland and Hospitality Action.

Surgeon’s Quarter also made a £3,400 investment into their online training facility known as FLOW. This delivers training courses which cover COVID safety measures and other training requirements.

Nine of Ten Hill Place’s employees were successful in gaining a scholarship from HIT Scotland, which is a 10-week online course about leadership.

There was further training available through funding worth up to £5000 issued by bodies such as Flexible Workforce Development Scotland who work in line with the Scottish government.

The courses are delivered virtually from Edinburgh College and cover areas such as Social Media, Content Creation and Sales Skills.

Ms. Williamson further commented: “Some may think with our team returning to work from furlough the training opportunities will stop, however it’s actually the complete opposite – we have more to come and a calendar of training planned up until November.

“I feel very lucky to be part of a company who care about their staff and individual development, with the opportunity to get involved in areas of the business that are of interest.” Profits accumulated by Surgeon’s Quarter go to the college.