Press Release

The Belfry achieves Hospitality Assured accreditation - March 2012
ISS and Autograph Foodservice are Hospitality Assured - January 2012
Hospitality Assured Forum 2011 - November 2011
Hospitality Assured Business Excellence Award Winners Announced - June 2011

The Belfry achieves Hospitality Assured accreditation

The Belfry, the famous British golf resort, is the latest business to receive Hospitality Assured accreditation. The Hospitality Assured (HA) programme, created and owned by the Institute of Hospitality, involves successfully completing rigorous reviews by external assessors that measure nine key areas of business and customer service. The 550 employees at the resort in Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, have spent the last nine months working towards the Hospitality Assured accreditation, and the evidence and interview process by external assessors took four days.

General manager David Toulson-Burke said: “The key to the success of the accreditation is not only in the passing, but the way in which the criteria will continue to live and breathe in our organisation, driving forward our desire for continued customer service excellence. The on-going support and efforts of our staff has been fantastic and I am confident to also see benefits within their own personal development and working practices.”

“Every area of our business has been assessed from the reception to housekeeping and to the service in our restaurants, and my leadership was no exception because I too sat through an assessment interview,” he said.

Ann Corrigan FIH, managing director of Hospitality Assured, said: “We are delighted to welcome The Belfry into the Hospitality Assured fold of businesses who are committed to delivering excellent customer service. This is an ethos that creates a memorable visit for Belfry customers.”

The Belfry is a world-renowned business set in over 550 acres of stunning countryside in the Midlands and was voted England’s Leading Golf Resort at the World Travel Awards 2011.

The Belfry has hosted more Ryder Cups than any other venue. Alongside the Brabazone course and a further two 18-hole courses, the 324-room resort offers an impressive range of on-site facilities including a range of bars and restaurants, an on-site nightclub, a spa and newly refurbished health & wellness facility.

For more information contact Hospitality Assured:
Tel: +44 (0)20 8661 4932
Hospitality.assured@instituteofhospitality.org
www.hospitalityassured.com

ISS and Autograph Foodservice are Hospitality Assured

ISS and Autograph Foodservice are the latest businesses to be accredited with Hospitality Assured (HA) status.

ISS has gained accreditation for its contract at the Open University in Milton Keynes. The campus is occupied by 1,200 academic staff and 250 post graduate research students. ISS has been the incumbent catering contractor since April 2001. Service provision is based in ‘The Hub,’ a 280-cover restaurant with an extensive grab-and-go outlet, a bar, private dining for 60 covers, three satellite units spread across the campus and a hospitality service.

Autograph Foodservice has successfully completed the HA process for its catering contract at Abbot Diabetes Care in Oxfordshire (where it also provides cleaning, security, window cleaning and pest control services). The foodservice contract is for 400 staff employed to manufacture testing strips for diabetes patients. The ten-strong local catering team is long serving and staff turnover rates are virtually non-existent. Assessors found a strong emphasis on the delivery of high-quality freshly cooked food resulting in a high take-up for the service.

HA accreditation involves successfully completing rigorous reviews by external assessors that measure nine key areas of business and customer service.

Do you want your business to stand out from the crowd? Using the Hospitality Assured standard encourages businesses to look at their operation from the customers’ perspective and see where improvements can be made to benefit the customer and of course the business!

For more information contact Hospitality Assured:
Tel: +44 (0)20 8661 4932
Hospitality.assured@instituteofhospitality.org
www.hospitalityassured.com

Hospitality Assured Business Excellence Award Winners Announced

On Tuesday 7 June, the Hospitality Assured Award winners were announced by the Institute of Hospitality during their Annual Lunch which was held at the five-star Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London.

Hospitality Assured is the customer service and business excellence standard that comprehensively maps a process which encourages a business to look at its operation from the customer’s perspective. The Institute of Hospitality launched the Business Excellence Awards to celebrate the achievements of organisations who choose to be measured against the demanding Hospitality Assured standard that when followed makes service delivery and business performance first-rate.

Professor Andrew Lockwood FIH and Ann Corrigan FIH, managing director of Hospitality Assured (HA) presented the winners with their awards. “The awards identify those organisations who have a commitment to business excellence and therefore to outstanding customer service. These businesses can be endorsed wholeheartedly to any customer because of their ambition to constantly improve the service that they offer to their clients” said Andrew

This year’s Champion of the Year was deservedly awarded to Sandra Ward–Barber from Oxford Brookes University. Sandra, senior accommodation officer at the University was described as a “Communications Champion whose total commitment to the value of the process and her tireless work in ensuring her enthusiasm and professionalism were always the standard expected of the team”

Sandra comments: "I was surprised but honoured to be told I had been nominated, and even more thrilled to have been chosen as the winner. Oxford Brookes University, and Hospitality Services are committed to providing excellent customer service, and achieving the accreditation was recognition for staff, colleagues and clients of our services and our commitment to this. The accreditation was achieved due to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of all my colleagues and as a team effort. We are delighted to have achieved this accreditation and look forward to continued improvement of our service and commitment to our clients."

Also accepting an award were Dudley Catering and Client Services, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council who received the Team of the Year award for maintaining an exceptional level of service throughout the past year.

Other organisations receiving awards were the much recognised Moller Centre of Cambridge who achieved the highest score for 2010, the highest scoring newcomer was the Kingsley by Thistle the boutique hotel in the heart of Bloomsbury and the Most Innovative Application 2010 was the Hamad Medical Corporation of Qatar.

Johan Scheepers, general manager, The Kingsley says: “A real paradigm shift was required from Kingsley hotel staff after an extensive refurbishment programme. We had to start thinking and behaving differently to meet expectations from our new 4star deluxe customers. The Hospitality assured process guided us to meet every business process and assisted us in giving our customers what they really deserve. We are incredibly honoured to be recognised for the change in our behaviour and the achievement of our financial goals.”

Gilles Gabel, associate executive director, Hamad Medical Corporation adds: "Using the Hospitality Assured standard at Hamad provides us with a great tool for improvement and team building and this recognition is greatly appreciated by the whole of the hospitality services team."

Hospitality Assured will continue to grow and to work with their clients to communicate the benefits of the Standard to the industry and their customers. “These businesses are exemplars of the high quality of the businesses opting to put themselves through the accreditation process and thereby measuring year on year how their business is progressing and developing” said Ann.

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.