Hospitality Connect

Hotelier of the Year Adrian Ellis (2022-2023) is the founder and developer of Hospitality Connect, a partnership project model with a framework of events to promote the hospitality sector and improve awareness of careers within the industry to a young student audience.

Realising the need to change the perception of the industry during the Covid19 pandemic, Adrian wanted to partner likeminded hoteliers with schools to offer employer encounters and industry insights. This project was successfully rolled out with Manchester Hoteliers Association members and the support of GMCA Careers Hub, starting with 10 hotels partnered with schools in 2021 and rising to over 30 partnerships in 2023. Each partnership delivers around six careers activities per year, taking place both at the hotel venue and at school. These activities bring the schools careers education programmes to life with curriculum enhancement, employer encounters and group experiences of the workplace for the students involved – underpinned by the Gatsby Benchmark framework.

This project is aimed at tackling ongoing recruitment challenges, and positively changing the image of the sector. Additionally, Hospitality Connect encourages enhanced contact with local FE colleges for the schools and hotels involved. Thus, enabling young students to have clear pathway insights for technical education and so that college aged students who are closest to the job market also benefit from good quality employer encounters from the hotels involved.

The project attracted funding from the Savoy Educational Trust in summer 2023 and the successful Manchester project model of delivery is now being replicated across the UK with an ambassador programme to celebrate the social value and volunteering taking place.