Conference aims to ease staff problems

Only 3% of hotel employees are likely to see their next career move within their existing company compared with 13% in restaurants and pubs and 48% in contract catering, according to research carried out by MSN for Caterer.com.

And Marriott International, Hilton Group and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts are among the hotel companies employees would most like to work for.

These are some of the findings that will be presented at the Caterer & Hotelkeeper Recruitment Conference to be held at London's Millennium Gloucester hotel on Wednesday 27 November.

Sponsored by recruitment consultant Kerry Robert Associates and chaired by the BBC's royal and diplomatic correspondent Nicholas Witchell, the conference is aimed at anyone who has ever experienced difficulty recruiting and retaining staff and would like some innovative suggestions on how this perennial problem can be solved.

Speakers include Marie-Beatrice Lallemand, general manager of the Hilton London Metropole and winner of this year's Group Hotel of the Year Catey; John Hutson, managing director of pub company JD Wetherspoon; Debbie Thomson, head of reward and recognition at Pret A Manger; and Gordon Campbell Gray, chief executive of London's One Aldwych hotel.

Issues to be addressed include building a recruitment strategy in a changing world, the importance of company culture in the recruitment process, and developing a reward-and-recognition strategy for retaining staff.

Tickets for the conference cost £295 plus VAT.

* For further information contact Rachelle Breaden on 020 8652 8385 or e-mail her on rachelle.breaden@rbi.co.uk

Sponsor message

"Kerry Robert Associates is a recruitment specialist in middle to senior management for the hospitality industry throughout the UK. It is delighted to sponsor a forum that provides the focus and inspiration to enhance your own recruitment strategy, making a real difference to the people who are your organisation."

Kerry van der Zyl and Rob Maloney, directors