How I got here

John Price originally wanted to become a chartered surveyor, but working as a £3-an-hour glass collector at a hotel in his native Darlington changed all that. "Other

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	John Price was sent on a fact-finding trip to New York as a result of winning the Acorn Scholarship in 2002

people would whinge, but I would decide how I would do things differently as a manager," he says. The die was cast. In 1997 he started a hotel and tourism management course at Sheffield University, which included a year's work experience at the Swallow hotel in Gosforth Park. "The barmen were responsible for checking the tills, and there was a real sense of empowerment. It is still one of my guiding principles today," he says. After university he joined the Marriott graduate scheme on £14,500 a year, working at the Slough/Windsor Courtyard hotel. It took him a long way from home. "I moved out of the comfort zone and into a reception job that I'd never done before," he says. But he believes the experience was crucial in broadening his understanding of the industry, and in May 2002 he moved into a £16,500 management position at the 94-bedroom Lincoln Courtyard. "As a manager I learnt to take things on the chin and be selective in what I did and didn't hear," he laughs. He took up his current £28,000-a-year post in April. As operations manager of the four-star, 94-bedroom Sprowston Manor Hotel and Country Club he is more office-based. "I now have to think about next week rather than next lunchtime," he says. His 60- to 70-hour week involves liaising with the hotel's different departments; drawing up forecasts; and checking the scorecards of each section. "My degree is actually a lot more useful to me now that I'm working with figures," he says. "I'm trying to instil that sense of empowerment," he says. "It's a 24/7 job, but I can't be here all the time. I need the staff to do a great job whether I'm here or not - because they want to and not because I'm coming round the corner." As an ambassador for Springboard UK, the organisation that promotes careers in hospitality, his advice to youngsters is to try it, because they'll either love it or hate it. His own opinion is categorical. "It's an awesome industry, and now, with more and more competition, customers increasingly know what they expect." And he adds: "I'd never have met Tom Jones or the England football squad if I'd become a chartered surveyor." Career highlights 2001 Wins Young Guns competition (student placement award run by Richmond Events) 2002 Wins Acorn Scholarship (awarded by the Acorn committee) April 2004 Becomes operations manager at the Marriott Sprowston Manor Hotel and Country Club 2004 Wins an Acorn Award