IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Professor Peter Jones
●● Director of Wentworth Jones, an international hospitality consultancy and management company, which owns and operates a ski company in Meribel, France (
www.aktivexperience.com).
● ● Retired as commander of the southern region of the Army Catering Service of the British Army of the Rhine.
● ●Academic career includes: head of schools in Bournemouth and Thames Valley universities and chief executive/ principal of the Blue Mountains Hotel Schools in Australia.
● ● Involved in the redevelopment of eHotelier, the online web portal for hotels and hospitality.
● ● Directorships include: Hotel Future Foundation, Hotel Future (Manchester), Hospitality Professionals Association (HOSPA), Edge Hotel School, Wivenhoe House Hotel, Learning from Experience Trust and the International Hotel Schools Directors Association (EUHOFA).
● ● Visiting professor at the University of Derby and University of West London.
restaurants, but don’t want their kids to work there. It comes back to a ‘below
stairs’ image” Peter Jones
come back here and wonder what we are doing. We have to look where the jobs are – and the jobs are in hospitality.
How could UK hospitality courses be improved? DF We need to attract more high-quality lectur- ers who are high-calibre practitioners, but this is difficult, particularly in London, because they can earn more in industry. PJ We need a new approach to improve engage- ment that makes learning better. When stu- dents are more engaged, it creates a working ethos from the word go. We have the Edge Hotel School, where students get experience across the board, right down to maintenance. They need to understand how a decision on stores impacts the restaurant. But you don’t get that interconnect to reflect the reality of the workplace on most courses in the UK.
Likewise, how can you expect young people to know how to provide good service unless
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you give them that experience themselves? DF Hospitality used to get an uplift in funding because of the necessity of running a kitchen and a restaurant for practical work. But no longer. A lot of higher education establish- ments have had to get rid of kitchens. So students are not getting the practical experi- ence and are not as employable as in the past.
And so you believe the industry needs to create its own educational institutions? DF Realistically, help from the UK government won’t happen. The industry has got to do it. Industry can help itself by supporting the Edge Hotel School’s Wivenhoe House hotel. They will reap the benefits, too. Exclusive Hotels’ managing director Danny Pecorelli sponsors a suite in the hotel and he believes he benefits from gaining well-trained workers, so it is not one-way. PJ Industry can also support the Hotel Future Foundation, which David and I and others are involved with. This is an education and train-
“People love
● ● Recent projects include the curriculum and operational planning for a new hotel school in Bangladesh; analysis of the potential hotel schools marketfor an acquisition and development strategy for a US education group; and feasibility studies on the viability for a new hotel school in the UK and internationally.
● ● Project director at the Edge Hotel School from 2009-2012.
ing initiative to establish a number of hotels where education and training is at the core of the commercial activity.
These hotels will be a variant on the Edge
Hotel School model, based on apprenticeships rather than higher education. They will also provide additional education and training opportunities for junior staff, through super- visory to executive levels. Work is already under way with Oldham Borough Council and others. The problem is that the local authori- ties are keen, but they have constraints. It needs investment and vision, so we are now looking at getting funding elsewhere to pur- chase hotels. Ideally, we need six – one in each major conurbation.
Industry involvement is essential to secure the skills for the future. By contributing to and becoming involved in both the Edge Hotel School and Hotel Future, the industry has the opportunity to improve skills and raise awareness of hospitality as a professional, rewarding career.
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