Harry Murray is a man who knows a thing or two about managing teams and businesses. In this week's Letters page, the 1986 Hotelier of the Year, 2008 Lifetime Achievement Catey winner and managing director of Lucknam Park Hotel and Spa mourns the death of Sir Bobby Robson. Murray compares the qualities needed to be a successful football manager to those needed to be a strong hotelkeeper.
"Hotelkeeping", he says, "is no different to sport. To succeed, you need to have a great passion for the profession you have chosen and be an inspirational leader. You need to build a team of players who will need coaching and developing and you need to earn the respect of the team through integrity, trust, empathy, voice tone and clear communications."
Since 1983, our Hotelier of the Year award has honoured those hotelkeepers with a total commitment and dedication to their industry, inspiring leadership skills, innate creativity and an excellent business track record.
Do you know a hotelier who matches that description? If so, we want to hear from you. The deadline for the Hotelier of the Year, sponsored by Casna Group, is Friday 14 August. To nominate someone you admire, go to www.hotelcateys.com/hotelcateys2009/p/3110.
From traditional skills to modern: this week, we begin afresh our search for the hottest websites in hospitality, with the launch of the 2009 Caterersearch.com Web Awards.
If you are doing smart things in the fields of visual design, innovation, content and interactivity to reach out to new and existing customers online, this is your chance to shout about it.
Mark Lewis, Editor, Caterer and Hotelkeeper
Hot topics this week on Table Talk
What can you do if your boss isn't pulling his weight, and blames his staff when things go wrong? Join this discussion, and see what else everyone is talking about at www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk