COMMENT & OPINION


Learning doesn’t stop in classroom


New Glasgow-based leadership school is a major development for the Scottish hospitality industry, writes HIT Scotland’s David Cochrane


A NEW and dynamic learning opportunity for the leaders of our industry was launched recently. The International Leadership School in Scotland (ILSS) is a unique partnership right here in Scotland.


It will bring together


three leading international academic institutions – Strathclyde Business School, Cornell University in New York and the École Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland. ILLS will offer a series of executive education modules for senior management and an innovative two-year Executive Masters in Hospitality and Tourism Leadership.


This is exciting for the industry and also for Scotland.


The country will have an


international leadership programme worthy of the world stage. We have to develop the leaders in our industry as we work in an increasingly complex profession which is faced with global challenges. Great leaders will also create the environment for others to flourish in too.


Learning is equally important in every aspect and stage of an individual’s career within the profession and should be encouraged at all levels. A tremendous amount of on-job training and development takes place in the good establishments in Scotland. In addition, there are a number of excellent further and higher educational establishments which really understand where the industry is going and what current skills are required. But learning doesn’t stop at the graduation ceremony.


In fact, this is where it 12 - SLTN - April 28, 2011


Nats destined to fail over pricing


The SNP has signalled its intention to try again to legislate for a minimum unit price for alcohol if re-elected, but there’s no indication that they would be successful second time around


I


T’S the issue that refuses to go away.


Despite its defeat by opposition parties in the last Scottish Parliament, the SNP has declared that it will again try to muster enough parliamentary support for the policy, should it earn the right to govern again in Scotland after May 5. In a widely-trailed move,


Cochrane: leadership programme is worthy of international stage.


must start a new phase. Individuals have access to many resources for free learning online, at local libraries and from the hospitality community. People in our industry are generally very receptive to giving advice or showing how things are done. All learning should be enjoyable and where better to learn about wines, beers or spirits than visiting the producer and experiencing the passion displayed by the supplier? To find out about current


trends and the benefits of physically visiting different places allows a greater understanding of styles and concepts which can enhance your overall knowledge. In a competitive market we all have to keep up to date and continue to push the boundaries, because if you don’t, the competition will, and your customers will certainly notice who’s at the top of their game – or not!


As summer approaches, take the time to see where gaps are in your own knowledge.


Ask yourself, what can I learn or what can I experience that would help me and the business? Remember the old maxim; “if you think training is expensive, try ignorance!”


• David Cochrane is the part-time chief executive of the International Leadership School in Scotland.


nationalists last week pledged to legislate to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol in Scotland in their manifesto for the forthcoming Scottish elections. First minister Alex Salmond, whose personal approval rating has soared in recent weeks thanks to the endorsement of high- profile business people and celebrities, said that this “vital social measure” is needed if Scotland is to meet its


What mattered was that the opposition had it in their hands to defeat it.


problems with alcohol misuse “head on”. This commitment will have earned the applause of the SLTA, which for years has been a vocal and unstinting supporter of the need for minimum pricing. To suggest it has the


universal support of operators and the wider drinks industry would be inaccurate – for reasons that have been articulated often enough in these pages over the past couple of years. My question at this stage is not whether it is the right thing to do, important though that is for the pub trade, but why there’s talk of it being attempted again so soon? Taking the internal debate


between pub operators, many of whom support minimum pricing, and drinks producers, many which don’t, to one side, the biggest issue is whether or not the policy is likely to gain cross-party support. It was only a few months ago that minimum pricing


Salmond’s approval rating has soared with the endorsement of top business people.


was defeated in parliament, at committee stage and in a full vote at Holyrood. Even with the backing of


weighty medical opinion, and the endorsement of no less an august body as the Royal College of Physicians, the SNP failed to win the support of those who, when it really came to the crunch, mattered – their rivals in parliament. That Labour, the Lib Dems and the Tories appeared to block plans for minimum pricing on political grounds – the very idea of handing the Nats a major policy victory was presumably too much to bear – isn’t really the issue, unpalatable though it was to those who campaigned for it. What counted was the fact the opposition always had it in their hands to defeat it, for with the SNP governing with a minority of seats, it meant the vote was easily lost. Fast forward to the present and it’s hard to see what’s changed which would


produce a different result. The SNP insists it will continue to make the case for minimum pricing should it get a fresh mandate from the Scottish electorate on May 5. But regardless of how


persuasive it is, the party will effectively be banging its head against a brick wall – unless it wins an outright majority. At the risk of sounding


defeatist, and I say this as an advocate of minimum pricing, it all seems a little pointless. And that’s before we get into the argument over whether the measure is consistent with competition law. Perhaps the Scottish Beer & Pub Association is right. Instead of wasting more time on something that appears destined to fail, in the short term at least, is it not better to give the torrent of legislation introduced in recent years the chance to bed in? I realise this may not be the most popular suggestion, but it gets my vote.


SLTN


VIEW Scott Wright


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