Scottish catering and hospitality news in Scotland

Staff at the Point Hotel in Edinburgh are to learn new skills from the best in the hospitality business around the world. Four employees have won HIT training scholarships, and their experiences will range from learning about staff motivation at the Disney Institute, Florida, to attending management training courses at the International Hotel School, Switzerland. They will also get the chance to discover how corporate hospitality works thanks to a management scholarship sponsored by Scottish Enterprise.

'These scholarships are a great opportunity for all our staff,' says Neil Ellis, General Manager (pictured, second from right). 'We have invested more than £40,000 on a management development programme that has involved sending staff on relevant educational experiences including food handing and hygiene, whisky distillery tours and English language lessons for foreign staff.
'We believe the best way to make customers happy is to invest in our staff and to ensure they are among the best-trained in the world. The scholarship recipients will learn from the best in the hospitality industry and they will bring so much back to share with everyone.'

The winners received their scholarships at the Emerging Talent Conference in February.
They include:

- Food & Beverage Manager Stephen McLay is to visit Florida
- Reception Supervisor Naheen Kahn and Restaurant Manager Johnny Smith are to visit Switzerland
- Trainee Restaurant Supervisor Nick Hogarth, will visit businesses in Scotland

HIT Chief Executive Cochrane said: 'The scholarships reflect the increasing importance of good staff training to Scottish hospitality and the benefits it brings to the tourist industry as a whole. It is unusual for four applicants from the same place to all receive scholarships but it is testimony to the way good establishments are utilising the opportunities offered by HIT.'