Springboard UK have launched a national campaign to attract top industry businesses to support a major hospitality industry showcase at World Skills London 2011, to be held at ExCel, London between 5-8 October
In conjunction with the British Hospitality Association, the Institute of Hospitality and People 1st, the aim, said Anne Pierce, Springboard?s chief executive, is to create the most exciting, the most inspiring and most visited interactive ?have a go? exhibition at the event ? showcasing hospitality skills at their best ahead of all other industries.??
?World Skills London 2011 is the greatest opportunity the hospitality industry will ever have to showcase the huge variety of jobs and careers that it can offer young people in one go.??
She urged employers, colleges and other industry bodies to put their full weight behind it.
??Put simply, this event is to skills what the 2012 Olympics is to sport.? It will see young people from across the globe competing in a multitude of different industries to become the best in their chosen skill area.?
Alongside the competition area for hospitality, Springboard is organising a 150 sq m inter-active stand space which will provide, as well as a mass of careers information, a wide range of opportunities for young people to ?have a go? and try their hand at a number of different hospitality skill areas from bed making to ?mocktails? or omelette challenges to check-in ?trials? alongside quizzes, competitions and speaker sessions.
?The event will attract over 150,000 visitors, the majority aged between 14-19.? With such a concentration of potential recruits, it?s vital that hospitality is able to show it?s an industry of critical importance to the nation and one which offers a huge range of career opportunities,? said Ms Pierce.?
She said the exhibition area would be designed to stimulate every visitor?s interest, be highly memorable, and would ensure that they all recognised that hospitality was able to offer a huge variety of exciting and satisfying careers ? while having some fun at the same time.
But she added that for the event to be a success, strong support from the industry was necessary.
?There are three levels of support ? Silver (?1,000), Gold (?3,000) and Platinum (?5,000) ? for small, medium and larger businesses respectively.?
?Sponsors will receive coverage on the stand appropriate to their level of support but all will be highlighted as among the best employers in the industry.
?This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to promote hospitality as a career for the 21st century and do some first class talent spotting.?
?Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, said that such a major international event in the UK had to have the strongest possible representation of the hospitality industry,
?We have the chance to influence a whole generation of young people.? We must grab this unique opportunity and put the industry?s weight behind it,? she said.
Philippe Rossiter, chief executive of the Institute of Hospitality, described it as an opportunity for the whole industry to get behind and urged other industry partners to get involved too.?
??The last time World Skills was held in the UK was 20 years ago.?? We have to make the most of this opportunity.?
?Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st who was, himself, inspired by what he saw in the ?have a go? area at the last World Skills in Calgary in 2009, said that skills and staff shortages were still a major problem for the industry ? as their research shows.
?We have to recruit more and more young people into the industry not only to keep pace with retirements but to be able to service the many new hotels and restaurants opening up.? This event is an opportunity to promote the industry which cannot be missed ? we cannot let it go by default.???
Details of the World Skills London 2011 and of the sponsorship packages available can be obtained from Anne Pierce at Springboard UK (020 7395 9491) ? [email protected] ? and are published on the Springboard website here.