Burnley hotel trains up hospitality stars of the future

A nationwide employee career development course, launched in Burnley almost two years ago by a hotel chain, has returned to the town's Holiday Inn Express.
Hospitality stars of the futureHospitality stars of the future
Hospitality stars of the future

The hotel, which is the national assessment centre for the course, welcomed Starboard Hotel employees who had journeyed from across the country to East Lancashire for the final module in the training course, known as SHAPE, Starboard Hotels Accelerator Programme.

The course, now in its second year, is aimed at developing the future leadership skills and careers of employees of Starboard Hotels, owners of the Holiday Inn Express and 20 other hotels across the country, including another leading Lancashire hotel, the Best Western Carlton in Blackpool.

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The “students” including SHAPE undergraduates from Burnley and Blackpool, faced an intense day of training at the hotel last week on “How the Media Works," delivered by journalists and PR professionals from Lancashire based Flex Media.

During the day, the course covered in depth media topics including tips and techniques on how to handle media interviews. This included a live broadcast with BBC Radio Lancashire when two of the SHAPE candidates from Burnley and Chorley, Joanne Amos and Katie Peel, together with course leader Sarah Fountain from leading training consiultancy ODF Consulting, were interviewed live on air.

The scheme is the passion of Lancashire businesswoman Kerian Barnes, Director of Operations at Starboard Hotels.

She said: “If we can encourage and motivate these young Starboard team players to have a voice in the development of the company they will bring their innovation and style to the wider benefit of the group. It also prepares them for working across the brands.”