Two HCIMA stalwarts die
Two respected members of the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA), Brian Ball and Peter Stefani, have died.
Ball, who was president of the organisation in 1977, was also a board member of the Pride of Britain and Master Innholder of the Worshipful Company of Distillers.
Trained at the Leeds Hotel School and at the Hotel des Trois Couronnes in Vevey, Switzerland, he was catering manager and group catering adviser to the BP Group for 25 years. He left in 1983 to set up Calcot Manor hotel in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, with his wife Barbara and son Richard. Calcot Manor became a leading country house hotel, winning two Cateys, AA red stars and a Michelin star.
His HCIMA colleague Stefani, who was general manager of a number of top-class hotels in London, Brussels and Bristol, lost his fight against cancer earlier this month. Stefani was vice-chairman and later chairman of the north-eastern branch of the HCIMA. He was also a councillor on the national council and served as a member of the association's professional development committee and its courses approval panel.
