A GROUP of students training to work in the hospitality industry took over a Bromsgrove hotel to put what they had learnt to the test.
The 30 students from South and City College spent three days running the Holiday Inn Birmingham – Bromsgrove as part of a global hospitality training programme.
The event was organised by InterContinental Hotel Group’s (IHG’s) National Hotel Takeover in partnership with People 1st which is aimed at attracting more young people to work in the industry.
The students ran a range of aspects across the hotel – from checking in guests at reception to serving food and drink and even running the housekeeping and room service.
The group was all shadowed by hotel team members and had the opportunity to gain practical experience of running a busy, fully functioning hotel, to complement their classroom based training.
The students looked after more than 250 conference delegates at the hotel, including running their own full day conference last Thursday.
The conferences run throughout the days and during the evenings as well.
The students also served up to 110 breakfast covers each morning and 60 covers each evening.
Holiday Inn Birmingham – Bromsgrove is among over 30 IHG hotels across the UK to participate in the hotel takeover.
Chris Dutton, the Holiday Inn Birmingham – Bromsgrove’s general manager said: “We’re really delighted to be participating in the hotel takeover.
“This is the 18th year this initiative has been running and it’s proven to be a hugely successful recruitment tool.
“Some of our best team members, even a former general manager, participated in the takeover as students.”
He said the scheme gave the class of 2018 valuable on the job training and experience.
