New Hotel School for Telford welcomed
A new training centre in Shropshire to give teenagers hands-on experience of the hospitality industry is "a real bonus" and will help to tackle youth unemployment, according to a leading councillor.
New College Telford has announced that it has bought the Whitehouse Hotel in Wellington.
The hotel, partly attached to AFC Telford United's New Bucks Head ground in Watling Street, will continue to operate with its existing staff and management structure to provide accommodation, conference and leisure facilities.
But as the new National Hotel School, the hotel will also become a national centre of excellence for training in the hospitality sector.
It will host work experience placements for trainees and apprentices, as well as internships for advanced level, higher education and post-graduate students from New College Telford and partner universities.
The school will open in September with its first 12 full-time students.
The move has been welcomed by Councillor Shaun Davies, cabinet member for neighbourhood services, employment and skills at Telford and Wrekin Council.
He said: "This is more good news for Telford and reflects the growing importance of tourism and conferences here and their part in the borough's economy.
"To have such a facility here, boosting skills in the borough, will be a real bonus for Telford and Wrekin.
"It also supports our initiatives to tackle youth unemployment and we look forward to working with partners such as New College Telford in ensuring that people in the borough have the skills needed for the future."
The decision to invest in a new centre of excellence came following the 2013 State of the Nation report by People First, which reported that up to 660,000 more hospitality staff, and over 130,000 managerial positions will need to be filled in the UK before 2020.
Garry Phillips, principal and CEO at New College Telford, said: "We are serious about ensuring that local people have the ambition and the opportunities to be placed in good jobs in high growth industries.
"The reported lack of skills in senior level positions in the industry means there are opportunities not just locally or nationally, but worldwide, for those with the ambition to travel and succeed."
He added: "The Hotel School is designed to ensure that employers can now have confidence that its students are not just graduating with the relevant qualification – they also have the added value of actually working in a commercial environment and have met real professional standards and work ethics, enabling graduates to be more employable and work ready."
