THE BIG HOSPITALITYCONVERSATION

Act NOW!o n a p p r e n t i c e s h i p s

The Big hOSPiTALiTYCOnverSATiOn

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A cAmpAign for hospitAlity jobs by the british hospitAlity AssociAtion

Hospitality and tourism demonstrates huge economic potential. The BHA is galvanising the industry to realise our ambitions, and crucial to our ongoing success is the need to invest in our best resource – our young people. We are asking hospitality and tourism businesses from across the UK to make their pledge to attract young people into hospitality, increase youth employment and reduce skill shortages.

Ufi Ibrahim

Chief Executive, British Hospitality Association

thousAnds more job opportunities for hospitAlityPatrick Dempsey, Managing Director of Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, is chairing The Big Hospitality Conversation. He’s challenging colleagues across the hospitality and tourism industry to pledge to employ more young people aged 16-24.

The Big Hospitality Conversation provides a unique forum for industry leaders to meet directly with a group of young people to talk about tackling youth unemployment, the importance of work experience and apprenticeships. It is generating important dialogue between our leaders and potential new leaders on employability, skills, work experience and apprenticeships. It is also encouraging all hospitality businesses across the UK to offer more quality work experience, more apprenticeships, and to employ more local young people.

the vAlue of the big hospitAlity conversAtionBefore June we are holding Big Hospitality Conversation events in every region of the UK and across 3 major industry sectors to:

• share best practice and create a quality approach to work experience and placements.

• understand the role of apprenticeships in our industry and best practice for delivery.

• ask every tourism and hospitality business in the UK to pledge to create new jobs for 16-24 year olds, helping to tackle youth unemployment.

• ask every tourism and hospitality business in the UK to consider employing local people to fill existing opportunities.

hospitAlity pledgesThe BHA will add up the pledges made by hospitality and tourism businesses large and small and present them to Government. This will be a hugely powerful message about how our industry is uniting to make a significant contribution to economic recovery and job creation, which deserves proper recognition and investment in return.

Springboard will work with organisations to support the delivery of the pledges.

whAt is the big conversAtion?The Big Conversation initiative is led by Business in the Community (BiTC), one of the Prince of Wales’s charities. It’s aimed at promoting talent and skills leadership. The Big Conversation is an events led initiative between senior leaders and young people. It’s rolling out across every industry sector and every region of the UK. In 2012, the BHA and Springboard joined forces with their members – Whitbread, Compass, ISS, TGI Fridays, Guoman & Thistle, Marriott, Hilton, Accor – to lead The Big Hospitality Conversation. Now, in 2013, hundreds of hospitality businesses are joining together to hold Big Hospitality Conversations across every region of the UK and every sector of the industry.

worK experienceWe need to attract more people into jobs in hospitality – to fill vacancies, skills shortages and for growth. We need to do more to promote hospitality as an exciting and rewarding career among young people and their careers advisors. Springboard research ‘Young People’s Perceptions to Hospitality as a Career and the Factors Affecting Career Choice’ (March 2012), backed by People 1st, shows that work experience remains the single most important factor influencing career choice. However, not all work experience is good. Hospitality businesses need to offer more and better quality work experience to attract talent and convert people into jobs. This is why Springboard developed the INSPIRE Quality Standard to help businesses create and deliver the best work experiences which nurture young people into employment.

youth employmentYouth unemployment is at record levels with some one million school leavers and graduates out of work and yet the hospitality industry has more vacancies now than a year ago, pointing to a significant opportunity for the hospitality industry to take a lead in combating youth unemployment and developing new strategies to create job opportunities across the UK. Forward thinking companies have already committed to employing local young people. The BHA calls on government – both national and local – to partner with the hospitality industry to generate youth employment.

ApprenticeshipsThere are more than 250 different types of apprenticeships available in the UK offering over 1,400 job roles within a variety of sectors including hospitality. Apprenticeships offer people above the age of 16 on the job training, a salary while they are learning, and the chance to gain a nationally recognised qualification upon completion.

Apprenticeships effectively combine the learning of practical skills within a real work context (on the job) with theoretical knowledge (off the job training). Intermediate, advanced and higher level apprenticeships offer a career route into the organisation at a variety of entry levels, and offer an invaluable opportunity to grow the skills needed both now and in the future. The National Apprenticeship Service in England, Career Wales in Wales, Skills Development Scotland and NI Direct in Northern Ireland are principal agencies offering apprenticeship support to employers across the UK, including guidance on potential apprenticeship funding. The sector skills council People 1st and the Hospitality Guild also offer apprenticeships support and advice, and have launched the Act NOW! apprenticeship campaign.

Springboard’s campaigns to Promote Careers, get Speakers into Schools and deliver Quality Work Experience are essential ingredients in presenting opportunities to young people. Act Now and Get Involved. Anne Pierce MBEChief Executive, Springboard

The Big Conversation is a powerful and incredibly memorable way to get industry leaders to listen to the needs of young people, react accordingly and reap business rewards. Patrick Dempsey OBEManaging Director, Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants

how cAn i Act now?Work experience, apprenticeships and initiatives to support young people into jobs are critical in cementing a talent pipeline. The Big Hospitality Conversation is an opportunity for industry leaders and young people to break down barriers and help supply meet demand.

We want everyone to Act NOW! from small businesses that have never employed an apprentice before, through to large companies that are already employing hundreds of apprentices each year. Suzy Jackson, Executive Director, Hospitality Guild

Over 80%of businesses that employ apprentices agree they make their workforce more productive.Source: Warwick Institute for Research (November 2008)

20,000+people throughout the UK completed hospitality apprenticeships during 2012.Source: People 1st

236,000According to research by the BHA and Oxford Economics, given the right support from government, the hospitality industry could generate 236,000 jobs by 2015. Source: BHA (October 2010)

106,300additional workers will need to be recruited every year until 2017 in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector (HLTT). Source: People 1st research (2011)

82%of school leavers have not made their minds up about their future career.Source: Springboard Young People’s Perceptions research (March 2012)

53%of school leavers would positively consider hospitality as a career.Source: Springboard Young People’s Perceptions research (March 2012)

1 Contact BHA or Springboard to register for your nearest Big Hospitality Conversation Event between now and 11 June 2013 – the date of the 2nd British Hospitality and Tourism Summit. Even if you are unable to attend an event, you can still get engaged and make a pledge – simply email bha@bha.org.uk and we will send you more information and the pledge link.

2 Pledge to adopt Springboard’s INSPIRE Quality Standard and provide more structured work experience and student placement opportunities. Contact Springboard by email at inspire@springboarduk.org.uk or register on www.inspire.springboard.uk.net Twitter @SB_Inspire

3 In addition to the relevant apprenticeship agencies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, you can find out more about apprenticeships at hospitalityguild.co.uk/apprenticeships or people1st.co.uk/apprenticeships

4 Pledge to offer opportunities to local young people to fill vacancies or for new jobs. Get involved in one of the many schemes that support young people and prepare them for work such as Galvin’s Chance, Accor’s Hospitality Futures, Springboard’s IWiSH and Into Work Programmes. Visit www.springboarduk.uk.net or email intowork@springboarduk.org.uk or the Hospitality Guild’s employer promise; hospitalityguild.co.uk/employerpromise

joining together As An industry to pledge new jobs for the uK hospitAlity industry

Hospitality is the UK’s fifth largest industry, accounting for 2.4 million jobs in the United Kingdom. This industry is a key contributor to almost every local community’s economic livelihood and particularly to its job-creating and wealth-creating potential. In 384 of the UK’s 406 local authorities, the hospitality industry’s share of total direct employment is over five per cent.

Hospitality is one of the few British industries with strong prospects for continued growth in the longer term. Oxford Economics research, commissioned by the BHA, shows that, given the right policy framework, the hospitality industry has the potential to generate a further 236,000 jobs in the UK by 2015.

Already a major employer of young people, the hospitality industry – led by the BHA in partnership with Springboard – has embraced The Big Conversation initiative to:

• Advance a common approach to structured work placements and internships designed to maximise benefits for young people and employers – a win-win approach.

• Unlock the opportunities afforded to young people and hospitality businesses through apprenticeships.

• Unite the hospitality industry in a collective effort to drive employment, learning and career opportunities for 16-24 year olds across the UK.

Coupled with The Big Hospitality Conversation, the recently signed agreement between the BHA, the Minister of State for Employment and the Department of Work & Pensions to ‘better serve the needs of the hospitality sector while giving those people who wish to pursue a career in hospitality a recognized route into work’ is an important step to ensuring the industry receives the support needed from government to realise its full job creating potential in the UK.

join the big hospitAlity conversAtionBig Hospitality Conversations are being organised across every region of the UK. If you are involved in a hospitality business, please join our campaign. For further information:

Email: bha@bha.org.uk or visit: www.bha.org.uk www.springboard.uk.net

@BHAtweets @SB_BigConversation @OneVoiceHG #bigconversation #ActNOW!

THE BIG HOSPITALITYCONVERSATION