Hospitality Assured Forum 2011

The new improved Hospitality Assured standard got the thumbs from a wide range of hospitality and leisure operators (29 November) during the annual HA Forum.

Hospitality Assured (HA) is the standard for business and service excellence created and run by the Institute of Hospitality. Users of the standard and its assessors came together to share their experiences at the Royal Garden Hotel, London. Below are a list of all the presentations from the forum:

Benchmarking - Professor Andrew Lockwood - University of Surrey Download
HA 2011 and Beyond Ann Corrigan FIH - Hospitality Assured Download
A Client’s Journey Eamonn Cole FIH Download
Hospitality Assured and the Olympics – Ian Seabrook MIH - Stoke Mandeville Stadium Download
The Climb - Linda Parsons MBE - Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust Download
Aiming for Excellence – Harry Murray MBE FIH – Lucknam Park Hotel Download

The HA standard was improved and revised one year ago based on client feedback. Since then, the number of establishments engaging in the HA programme has reached 2,100, representing nearly 50,000 employees. New clients include the Royal Society of Medicine, Glenmore Lodge, care home operator Brendon Care and three hotels run by the Royal British Legion. The standard is also used by nearly 50 tourism businesses across the Caribbean and by Qatar’s equivalent of the NHS.

With several years of statistics to draw on, professor Andrew Lockwood PHD FIH, University of Surrey, provided clear evidence that those businesses who use HA as a continuous improvement tool achieve incrementally higher scores year after year. Edinburgh International Conference Centre achieved the highest ever HA score (85.4%) this year after using the standard for nine years. .

Harry Murray MBE FIH, chairman of Lucknam Park Hotel, gave an inspirational speech about the importance of hands-on management. The way to win over sceptical business owners or board directors is to provide clear evidence of HA’s role in achieving higher profits, he said.

Eamon Cole FIH gave such evidence in numbers.

A compelling case study of how HA can make a real difference within the National Health Service was provided by Linda Parsons of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust.

Ian Seabrook MIH of Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the birthplace of the Paralympics, gave a rousing look forward the summer of 2012 and underlined the relevance of HA in terms of providing the best welcome to visitors. He highlighted the opportunities for businesses to engage in events outside London, such as the torch relays and at the pre-games training camps.