30th Big Hospitality Conversation to take place in Birmingham

03 June 2015 by Hannah Thompson

The 30th Big Hospitality Conversation is to take place at the Crowne Plaza Birmingham City Centre hotel on Thursday 4 June from 9am to 1pm.

More than 100 business leaders from the hospitality and tourism industries across Birmingham are set to attend the event, which will offer career opportunities, apprenticeships and work placements for young job seekers across the city.

This will be the 30th event for the BHA-led Big Conversation initiative, which has held jobs fairs and events across the country in a bid to inspire young people to see hospitality as a strong career path, and raise awareness of the industry's effectiveness in tackling youth unemployment.

According to the BHA, research by economic analyst Oxford Economics found that 8.4% of working people in Birmingham are part of the hospitality and tourism industry, a figure that is expected to rise significantly over the next five years. Birmingham's youth unemployment rate is estimated by the government to be at 9.1%, compared with the UK average of 6.2%.

In the past two years, the campaign has seen more than 2,000 businesses help to create some 42,000 new roles for young people.

It is supported by JobCentrePlus, the DWP, the National Apprenticeship Service, industry charity Springboard and career charity Believe in Young People, and it is aiming to create over 60,000 new career opportunities for young job seekers by 2016.

Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, explained that hospitality had created an estimated 17% of all new UK jobs since 2010, a trend that was expected to continue in Birmingham.

She said: "For young people living in Birmingham, a career in hospitality and tourism offers an opportunity to be part of a dynamic, growing and competitive sector with great prospects for growth. The breadth of roles and the training available means that new entrants can succeed very quickly, climbing the career ladder towards even greater opportunities in the industry."

Anne Pierce, chief executive of Springboard, said: "Springboard is proud to be one of the founder partners of the Big Hospitality Conversation. It is recognised that work experience plays a key part in influencing a person's career choice and this is why we are taking a lead role in this initiative."

She also said that the campaign would bolster Springboard's own work programme, Inspire, which was set up to provide job seekers with experience.

he British Hospitality Association seeks to champion the interests of the industry, drive up standards and share best practice between businesses. Its current estimates suggest that hospitality will generate 300,000 new jobs by 2020.

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