BHA jobs campaign heads to Bristol

Restaurateurs, hoteliers and caterers across the south west will come together on 13 January at the Mercure hotel to pledge jobs, apprenticeships and work placements for 16 to 24-year-olds.

Bristol and the south west has one of the largest hotel and restaurant sectors in the UK, with visitors spending more than £1b annually in the city and the region attracting one fifth of total domestic tourism nights.

Jacqui Allum, director of the Big Hospitality Conversation, said: "With its enviably full and varied programmes of festivals, events and cultural activities, Bristol is ideally placed for attracting domestic and overseas tourists and we're delighted to be working with prosperous local hospitality and tourism businesses who are seeking to attract young people."

Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, added: "For young people living in Bristol a career in hospitality makes perfect sense. The breadth of job roles and the training available means that bright and focused young people can succeed very quickly and hospitality offers wonderful growth prospects and job opportunities for all job seekers of any age."

Supported by Springboard, Barclays, Believe in Young People, National Apprenticeship Service, and the DWP, the Big Hospitality Conversation has so far created more than 35,000 job opportunities. The aim is to create up to 60,000 jobs for young people in the hospitality industry by 2016.

The Bristol event, which is the 22nd Big Hospitality Conversation to date, will kick start a programme of events this year in Tottenham, Nottingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Swansea, Belfast, Lambeth, Cardiff, Hackney, Legoland, Bournemouth, Llandudno, Dundee / Perth, Preston / Blackpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Exeter, Maidstone, and the Isle of Wight.

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