What an inspiration...

Inspiring Olympians 
The Olympic and Paralympic athletes who dedicate their lives to one goal have inspired me. They are impressive and I know I couldn’t do it. The athletes have clarity, focus and 100% dedication alongside a clear goal – a Gold medal. I watched an interview with Team GB’s Greg Rutherford who won the gold medal in the men's long jump. He said he had dreamt of winning a gold Olympic medal all his life.  Contrast this with the young people coming out of school and university who have so many opportunities, barriers and decisions and they just don’t know what they want to do.

Inspiring youngsters
We discussed this at the recent ‘Big Conversation’ forum with other hospitality industry leaders. How can we help get both school leavers and long term unemployed youngsters believe there is hope and career opportunities in the hospitality industry? I met some wonderful youngsters at the event, who started their journeys as lost souls; they had changed their lives by fortunately stumbling into the hospitality industry. The young people had inspiring tales to tell about how they found their way into our great industry. Our challenge is to help those who haven’t decided what career path to follow and don’t know how to get started.

Inspiring industry
Hospitality is a fantastic industry and it’s the 6th largest employer the UK. Its unique too because hospitality employs people throughout the UK and in 10 local authorities, hospitality accounts for over 20% of the employment in that area. As an industry we can provide so many opportunities and they are available in every part of the country. The industry has pledged to create 200,000 jobs and make it easier to enter; make work placements easier, talk to schools about why it makes sense to consider our industry and create numerous routes to apprenticeships and provide on the job qualifications.

Inspiring schools
bartlett mitchell are contributing to this initiative by committing all our units to link to a school and make sure the work experience and placement teachers know how we can help them. If you know a school that needs support, or someone who isn’t sure how to get started in the hospitality industry – please get in touch. Let’s all work together to get another talented young person on the first step of their hospitality career.