Macdonald Hotels/CATHM

The UK's first industry-based education centre for hospitality is helping Macdonald Hotels train and deploy experienced students from Switzerland, while developing a series of courses that aim to develop home-grown talent.

CATHM, Centre of Applied Tourism and Hospitality Management was launched in April 2007 by the Bathgate-based group, which has 48 hotels, ten resorts and over 4,000 staff across the UK and Europe. The Centre, based at the Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort, is already training 19 Swiss students through managed internships across the group.

Managing Director of CATHM, Dr Craig Thompson trained many of the world's hospitality managers during his five years as Academic Director of Swiss Education Group in Montreux – Switzerland's largest provider of hospitality education – and believed the same formula would work over here.

"The UK industry needs a highly-motivated, trained workforce; while there are all these students in Swiss hospitality schools looking for experience," Dr Thompson explained. "By putting the two together, we've got a win-win situation."

The Swiss interns, who are all in the second year of their hospitality degree with the Swiss Education Group, have already completed a year of academic study in food and beverage production, service and management and a live five-month placement in Switzerland before coming to the UK for the five-month internship at Macdonald Hotels.

CATHM works with internship co-ordinators and general managers across the group to match students with live vacancies and to develop a training and assessment programme appropriate to each intern's skills and level of experience. Internees are placed in a wide range of areas including reception, front office, housekeeping, food and beverage, leisure and even golf.

"Because they've already done their first year, the interns are more savvy and mature and they're able to assume a level of responsibility," Dr Thompson said. "They're not just an extra pair of hands, they could be responsible for night auditing, for example, or being team leaders, if not supervisors, in the restaurant or housekeeping department. It makes an awful lot of sense for the hospitality industry to use international students due to their motivation, their work readiness and their service ethic."

CATHM also offers programmes including ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) Diploma, HNC in Professional Cookery and HNC in Hospitality Management to both Macdonald employees and UK students.

Contact

Centre of Applied Tourism & Hospitality Management
Aviemore Highland Resort
Aviemore Inverness-shire
PH22 1PN Scotland
Tel: 01479 815333
Email: craig.thompson@cathm.com
Web: www.cathm.com, www.macdonald-careers.co.uk/Home/Home.aspx