Corus launches Reception School

Corus Hotels will launch a Reception School this month, its first ever structured training scheme for front-desk staff.

Staff aged 18 to 24 years' old will be employed as receptionists at 20 participating Corus hotels from August.

Over a year they will study for an NVQ Level 2 front office qualification, with on-the-job work experience and mentoring. Successful candidates will subsequently be offered jobs within the organisation.

Corus said it had decided to introduce the scheme as many of its best receptionists used front-desk positions as springboards to other careers. The company hopes that by offering a fast track to management it will retain this talent instead.

Reception support and learning and development manager at Corus, Sarah Brickwood, said: "There is potential for our applicants to work their way up to reception manger within one year and on to challenging management positions thereafter.

The programme has been developed with the Hotel & Catering Training Company, which will act as an external assessor for the NVQ qualifications.

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