Springboard's careers festival wins broader support from industry
More than 660 organisations are taking part in next week's nation-wide hospitality careers festival, 260 more than last year, according to organiser Springboard UK.
Events from 2 to 8 October range from open days and job-shadowing to cooking and tourism challenges to promote hospitality as a career.
Anne Walker, Springboard's managing director, said on Monday that she knew of 1,066 events organised for the week. She was not concerned that this fell below last year's tally of 1,700 activities.
"We would rather have more people attending fewer events than run millions of activities that nobody goes to," she said.
Walker said this year's participants covered a broader spread of the industry, and that 30% were small businesses. Hotels, restaurants and contract caterers have been joined by a number of other companies, including Thomas Cook, Tussauds Group, Champneys and fitness firms such as Holmes Place.
Also, a wider audience was being targeted - not just schools and students but adults, the unemployed, lone parents, work returners, the disabled and ethnic minorities.
Research to be unveiled at the festival launch, at London's Chelsea Village complex, will suggest that last year's jamboree has already begun to change peoples' perceptions of the industry.
But Brian Worthington, director of human resources at Choice Hotels, warned not to expect instant solutions to individual recruitment problems. It would be a "long-term exercise" to counter the industry's poor image, he said: "We have all got to work as a team and keep the momentum going year after year."
Walker believed most companies realised the industry's image problem would not be solved overnight. "We have got to keep chipping away at it," she said.
And Gordon Lyle, Hilton International's vice-president for human resources in the UK and Ireland, said that the festival, while "phenomenally important", should not form the sole focus of company activities. Rather, he said, it should be seen as the pinnacle of year-round work to build long-term relationships with potential recruits.
by Angela Frewin
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 28 Sept - 4 Oct 2000
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