Clubbing together for training success
A consortium of London's private members' clubs has been set up to provide staff with training and assessment for National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs).
The 15 clubs, including Boodle's, the Royal Automobile Club and the University Women's Club, are all members of the Club Secretaries and Managers Association (CSMA) and had been discussing training for some time before deciding to introduce NVQs.
According to Nicholas Cranfield, chief executive of the RAC clubs, the first briefing session held recently at the RAC on Pall Mall for senior staff from the clubs was "swamped". "We had 96 registered to be assessors and verifiers and 105 people turned up. The level of interest was so high that even some of the club secretaries came," he said.
When the NVQ programme gets off the ground within a few months, around half of the clubs' 1,500 staff will be registered for NVQ levels 1, 2 and 3 with the awarding body, the Hotel & Catering Training Company. The NVQs will cover cooking, food and drink service and accommodation operations.
Management trainees from the clubs will be working on HCIMA-approved level 3 units under the auspices of the Savoy Group training centre.
Keith Podmore, executive chef at Boodle's, said clubs had a unique opportunity to train chefs because of the quality and tradition of cuisine they offered.
Another keen supporter of NVQs is John Robson, club secretary of the University Women's Club in Mayfair. Mr Robson had much success with NVQs at the Angel Hotel in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, which he was contracted to manage for three years.
"NVQs paid a very significant part in turning the business around. We had all the staff motivated and working towards NVQs. The results were phenomenal. The return on turnover grew from almost nothing to 23.5% in two years," he said.
While the traditional London clubs are not profit making businesses, they do have a number of concerns which NVQs and training could help.
At the turn of this century more than 100 clubs thrived in London. Today there are 54 and some of those are financially threatened.
Clubs are having to compete with restaurants, wine bars and cafés for business. Food and beverage service and accommodation management are key to a club's success.
Staff retention and recruitment is also vital, with members keen to see faces they know. Clubs are sprinkled with loyal staff who have held their post for years, but, according to Mr Cranfield, have not been successful in wooing recruits from catering colleges. The consortium is designed to change that.
