Shadow play

When Springboard UK offered 17-year-old David Loughran the opportunity to shadow the general manager of the Connaught hotel for a week, he jumped at the chance. Whether he knew what he was letting himself in for is another matter. Jessica Gunn reports .

It's Tuesday morning, and David Loughran already looks a little shell-shocked. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, when you look at the schedule that Duncan Palmer, general manager at the Connaught hotel in London, has drawn up for him. Each working day starts at 8am and continues non-stop into the night with cocktail parties or award ceremonies.

The week's work experience is part of Springboard's "Groundhog Day" initiative, a nationwide event that took place on Monday (22 October), when students around the country spent a day shadowing someone within the hospitality industry.

"I wasn't really sure what a general manager did before this week," says Loughran. "I thought that he sat in an office all day, made occasional spot checks on rooms and generally made sure that everyone did their job properly. Now I know they do a lot more."

Loughran, 17, has no previous experience of a hotel like the Connaught, a 92-bedroom luxury hotel in Mayfair. He recently finished a GNVQ in leisure and tourism at Havering Sixth Form College in Essex and was offered the opportunity to shadow Palmer as part of this year's Springboard careers festival.

For Palmer, each day starts with a morning meeting, or "morning prayers" as he refers to it, with front of house manager Michael Voigt, or his deputy Lutz Clausen, and head housekeeper Eva Adam. "I need to know if anything's gone bump in the night," explains Palmer to Loughran.

The meeting is also a time for Palmer and the front of house manager to review the hotel's position in relation to its competitors. "It is very important to keep our finger on the pulse all the time," says Palmer, as he examines current occupancy levels (averaging about 65% for the month) and achieved room rates.

This meeting, as Loughran discovers, is just one of many ways in which Palmer maintains a tight watch on the hotel. "Yesterday we did spot checks of rooms, wandered around the hotel, and spent the afternoon in continuous meetings," says Loughran. "Mr Palmer notices everything." A stream of meetings are also held throughout the day, and week, to discover exactly what everyone is doing and how they feel about it.

For Loughran, however, Monday's schedule of meetings is replaced on Tuesday with stints in various areas of the hotel. At the end of the morning meeting he is rushed off to reception, where Clausen runs through the Connaught's procedure for checking guests in and out. About 70% of the Connaught's guests are return visitors, and there is a strong emphasis on greeting guests personally. Palmer and Anthony Lee, house manager for 24 years, are on constant call to welcome guests.

Reception duty is followed by a move across the lobby to the concierge desk, where head concierge Bradley Davis explains the requirements for getting a booking at sought-after restaurants such as Nobu or tickets for the Royal Opera House. "We have to get anything a guest asks for," Davis explains. "It ranges from restaurants and theatre tickets to lingerie or rare Ferrari parts."

After an hour-and-a-half Loughran seems convinced. "I thought that concierges just carried people's bags," he says. "Now I've seen what they really do, I would definitely be interested in pursuing this as a career."

A quick lunch in the staff canteen is followed by observation time in the recently renovated Drawing Room and Red Room, two areas apart from the restaurants that now serve food and drink throughout the day. "The Drawing Room used to draw in an income of around £50,000 a year," says Palmer. "It was very underused. Now its annual turnover is over £600,000. The key is finding out what the customer wants and then delivering it."

Loughran watches as food operations manager Dagmar Lyons oversees the lunchtime business of serving guests and liaising between kitchen and service staff. "I enjoy the interaction with the guests in the restaurant," says Loughran. "But I think I would get bored doing this all the time."

Next up is another meeting, with head housekeeper Adam, who takes Loughran through housekeeping's responsibilities and schedule. "On the whole I spend each day preparing for the next," she explains. "We organise the co-ordination of rooms, bathroom stocks, cleaning rooms, spot checks, allocating duties, purchasing linen and flowers." A quick run around the hotel for some spot checks with assistant housekeeper Nimfa Sheldon and it is time for the yield meeting with Palmer, Lee, Clausen and representatives from the central Savoy Group reservations department.

"Although I've done some work experience in a hotel before, I've never had any contact with the business side of things," says Loughran. "It's very interesting to see how much attention is paid to things like revpar, occupancy and what the competition is doing."

Loughran's last meeting of the day with Palmer, before going on to the Young Chef and Young Waiter awards at the Landmark hotel, is with the Connaught's training manager. "We take training very seriously as you can see," explains Palmer. "We've just created a code of conduct for the hotel, which focuses on how our staff should treat customers, colleagues and the hotel itself."

When asked if he would still like to be a general manager, Loughran says: "Maybe, when I'm a bit older. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do before, but this experience has definitely pushed me towards hotel work."

Palmer remains magnanimous. "The reason I wanted Loughran to come to the Connaught was because of the opportunities I was given when training. Sometimes people don't get the chance to see all aspects of the business, so they don't understand what their choices are. I did get those opportunities and I feel I owe it to the industry to give something back."

Festival events

Springboard UK's 2001 Hospitality Careers Festival was launched on 12 October. The week-long festival is a national, industry-wide event, designed to encourage more people to see hospitality and catering as a career of choice for the 21st century. Events took place throughout the country, including:

Skills challenge

Teams of schoolchildren aged between 11 and 15 took part in a range of fun and educational activities. More than 100 children took part in the London area, plus 10 sponsor companies who put on the challenges. Sponsors included Thomas Cook, the Royal Garden hotel, British Midland and Groupe Chez G‚rard. Challenges included prawn peeling, mixing non-alcoholic cocktails and airline safety routines.
When: Monday, 15 October
Where: The Brewery, Chiswell Street, London EC1 and around the country

Schoolchildren in the House of Commons

The refreshment department of the House of Commons invited 12 schoolchildren (15- to 16-year-olds) and their teachers to work in the kitchens, restaurants, bars and food administration offices as part of the national Groundhog Day.
When: Monday 22 October
Where: House of Commons

Careers fairs

Two major careers fairs took place in the Midlands. Monday's fair was in Nottingham at the Posthouse hotel. The fair involved 23 local employers and about 300 people visited the event. Thursday's fair was at the Repertory Theatre in Birmingham and 22 employers came to promote their businesses. The event was advertised on local radio and TV crews filmed the event.
When: Monday 15 and Thursday 18 October
Where: Nottingham's Posthouse hotel and the Repertory Theatre in Birmingham

National FutureChef Competition

Designed to enthuse school pupils aged between 14 and 15 about cooking. Pupils taking part planned, costed, prepared, cooked and presented a business lunch for two people from a set budget. 145 schools from 10 regions across the country took part.
When: national final, Friday 19 October
Where: Westminster Kingsway College, London

Young chefs

Twelve GCSE catering students from Willows High School in Cardiff prepared a five-course meal under the guidance of the Cardiff Marriott hotel's executive chef and sous chef. The meal was prepared at the school for the consumption of teachers, parents and local hotel general managers.
When: Thursday 18 October
Where: Willows High School, Cardiff

Hospitality matters

Belfast's Special Schools Career Convention was aimed at getting young people with learning difficulties and disabilities interested in the hospitality industry. Sponsors included Northern Ireland's Chefs & Cooks and the Bartenders Association of Ireland.
When: Wednesday 17 October
Where: Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Skills challenge

Schools in Glasgow are being treated to a day at Celtic FC's football ground while taking part in interactive skills challenges set by local industry representatives, including the Hilton Grosvenor hotel, City Inn, Holiday Inn and Cameron House hotel.
When: today (25 October)
Where: Celtic Park, Glasgow

• Information on other events can be found on the Springboard UKWeb site, www.springboarduk.org.uk, or by contacting Springboard's regional offices.