Hotelympia: Expert advice
As well as being inspired by wonderful new products at Hotelympia, visitors can also become truly informed about all aspects of the hospitality industry. A mass of seminars - with speakers from every sector of the industry - will take place throughout each day of the exhibition at London's ExCel, from 19 to 23 February.
Six seminar theatres will host the events, covering subjects as diverse as future trends, management skills, careers, design, technology and bars.
Future@Hotelympia
Future@Hotelympia will explore some of the trends expected to shape the industry in the coming years, as well as look at ways we can all exploit opportunities and avoid threats.
Four one-off seminars will take place on the first day of the exhibition - Sunday 19 February - when subjects to be discussed will all help to boost the bottom line of your restaurant, hotel or catering business.
The first session at 11.30am on Local Food - led by Tamara Schiopu, manager of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Food Groups, and Jane Carlton-Smith of the Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry at Oxford Brookes University - will highlight the benefits of making the most of regional food and drink specialities.
Rod Taylor from the hospitality and leisure team of Business Banking will host a seminar on Planning for Profit at 12.30pm. Whether you're about to launch your first business or expand an existing one, there will be advice about how you can improve your chance of success by managing your cash-flow and staff motivation.
Next, at 2.30pm, will be a session where thriving entrepreneurs will share their tips for Secrets to Success, followed by Ben Bartlett, catering development manager at the Union Pub Company, advising on Perfecting your Menu for Profit at 3.30pm.
For the rest of the exhibition - from Monday 20 to Thursday 23 February - a rolling programme of five seminars will be repeated each day, with different speakers putting their own unique point of view.
The first session of each day at 10.30am will see Caterer Group editor Mark Lewis conduct An Interview With… some of the industry's leading players, all of whom will aim to provide an insight into the future of their particular sector. On Monday, Jerry Brand, managing director and founder of Host Management, who sold his previous business, Russell and Brand, in 1996 for £16m, will talk about his current company, which has 41 contracts in the schools, healthcare and business sectors. The next day will see Lewis interview Cyrus Todiwala, proprietor and executive chef of the Café Spice Namasté restaurant group and winner of the 2005 Education and Training Award Catey. Todiwala is as passionate about the quality of produce he serves in his restaurants as he is about the training and career advancement of his staff.
On Wednesday, the hot seat will be occupied by Mark Derry, chief executive of the 25-strong Loch Fyne Restaurants group and winner of the 2005 Group Restaurateur Catey. The final interview will be with John Stauss, who combines his roles as general manager of the Four Seasons hotel, London, with that of regional vice-president in charge of seven other hotels throughout Europe and the Caribbean.
Topics to be discussed during the rest of each day will focus on how developments in the wider world can have an impact on your business. For instance, each day at 11.30am there will be an opportunity to Meet the Professors during sessions that will divulge recent research conducted by the UK's leading universities into matters ranging from business planning to future food trends. Speakers will include Professor Peter Harris talking on benchmarking financial performance and hotel asset management; Professor J John Lennon, director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development, on how food and hospitality operators can prepare their businesses in a rapidly shifting marketplace; Dr Liz Doherty of Sheffield Hallam University on how female leaders can add value to your business; and Professor Andrew Lockwood and Professor Peter Jones from the University of Surrey on how small business can tap into recent research on best practice.
Current concerns facing catering in the public sector will be the subject of the 1.30pm session on The Nation's Food. Leading the Monday seminar, Rob Rees of the School Food Trust and the British Nutrition Foundation, will speak about the national transformation of school meals and highlight the work of Gloucestershire Food Vision, which operates an innovative integrated food policy. On Tuesday Paul Cryer, former head of facilities and hospitality services at the Department of Health, will consider the current state of hospital food following the launch of the Government's Better Hospital Food programme. The feasibility of organic foods in food service will be discussed on Wednesday by Mike Rimmington, principal lecturer in the department of hospitality, tourism and leisure management at Oxford Brookes University Business School, and Helen Taylor, technical services and business development director at the Soil Association. Richard Wedgbury, principal consultant, Jon Richardson & Associates, will round off this series of seminars on Thursday with a look at the future of the school meals service.
At 2.30pm each day, How Will Menus for the Future Look? will see a series of speakers examine worldwide food and menu trends and ask what the consumer of tomorrow will want to see on menus. Protagonists will include David Henkes of Technomic, Dr Phil Stroud of Griffin Laboratories on converting market trends into new taste experiences, and Peter Fitzpatrick, group foodservice director of Patak's Foods, on the continuing popularity of ethnic foods.
Going for Gold, which will round off the Future@Hotelympia seminars each day at 3.30pm, will look at the opportunities for hospitality and tourism industries across the UK that will come from the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Offering an insight into the impact the games are expected to have on the country will be David Hornby, commercial director of Visit London, who will suggest ways the UK can learn from the experiences of previous Olympics' host cities. Vanessa Cotton, ExCel's managing director, conference and events division, will look at ways caterers can maximise the diversity and flair of their cuisine; and Paul Mulcahy, managing director of Chelsea FC Hotel and Stadium, will explore the opportunities and pitfalls that may lie ahead over the next six and a half years.
HCIMA Small Business Seminars
Practical advice and guidance on setting up and running a small hospitality business will be available in a series of seminars run by the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (HCIMA).
"The seminars are part of the HCIMA's highly acclaimed ongoing programme of HCIMA Small Business Seminars, launched in September 2005," says Petra Clayton, HCIMA's director of marketing and communications.
"The wide-ranging line-up of subjects for our Hotelympia 2006 programme will include management business and practical skills, as well as topical issues, such as enhancing energy efficiency in the face of current soaring energy prices, and how to gain a competitive edge over rivals through customer service training."
Careers in Hospitality
A showcase for employers to attract staff to their business will be provided in the form of Careers in Hospitality, a new two-day feature at Hotelympia. Running on Monday and Tuesday, this area of the exhibition will offer independent career advice, quick access to top employers and informative seminars.
On Monday the first session, from 10.30-11.15am, will see Jane Sunley of the staff retention organisation LearnPurple offer advice on Planning Your Career. Then, from 11.30am-12.15pm, Erica Harley of the training organisation Erica Harley Associates will run a seminar on Making a Great Impression: How to Sell Yourself at Interview. Expect plenty of audience participation in this session, which will be repeated in the afternoon from 2.30-3.15pm. There will also be a masterclass on How to be a Successful First-Time Manager delivered by LearnPurple from 12.30-2.15pm and a final seminar from 3.30-4.15pm on Continuing Your Professional Development led by Jacqui Zinkin from the University of Westminster.
On Tuesday 21 February the only session to be confirmed at present is a debate in the afternoon from 2.30-3.15pm on the Best Place to Work - The Big Debate: Hotels or Contract Catering? Leading the argument for hotels will be Amanda Scott, general manager of the Waldorf Hilton, with the opposition provided by Linda Halliday, human resources director of BaxterStorey, and Henrik Mansson, human resources director of Elior UK. Other seminars to be confirmed for Tuesday include those on running your own pub, working in the supply chain and a football focus session led by Jackie Isaacs of Delaware North, the company that will run the catering contracts at two of the country's newest football stadiums - Wembley and Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.
Where and how to attend seminars Exhibition visitors who want to attend a seminar should arrive at the destination of their chosen session 10 to 15 minutes before the start time. Entrance will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Future@Hotelympia can be found at the main Seminar Theatre in the Catering Equipment Hall. Each seminar will last 45 minutes.
HCIMA Small Business Seminars will take place at the HCIMA Seminar Theatre at stand S4460. Exhibitors can just turn up on the day or can preregister for a specific seminar at www.hcima.org.uk/seminars.
Careers in Hospitality seminars will run on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February only. They will be located next to catering equipment in the North Hall of the exhibition.
Other seminars Look out for other seminars taking place. Design Link will run a series of sessions presenting the latest interior designs in the hospitality industry, Hostec is where you will be able to improve your knowledge of technology issues, and Bar Scene will cover the selling and serving of drinks, bar staff and bar design.
HCIMA small business seminars
Sunday 19 February
11-11.40am Web Marketing for Restaurants with speakers from livebookings.com and lastminute.com.
1-1.40pm Finding and Furnishing Your Property, led by Adam Lansdown, director of Colliers Robert Barry.
3-3.40pm Developing Team Performance with Fiona Rassell, MD of Storm Training, and Nathan Homan, creative director, Rouge Events.
Monday 20 February
10-10.40am Finance: Business Forecasting for Profit and Cash is King with speaker Debra Adams, MD of Arena4Finance and course director of the British Association of Hospitality Accountants.
11.30am-12.10pm Employment Law: the employment of agency workers and drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace led by Stuart Chamberlain, Consult Gee employment law consultant.
1-1.30pm Develop Your Own PR Strategy, with Jackie Cleveland, chief executive, William Murray PR.
4-4.40pm Safety Check: Health & Safety and Food Safety with Percy Smith, principal inspector of the Health & Safety Executive and Stephen Airey, head of HACCP branch, Food Hygiene Implementation Division.
Tuesday 21 February
10-10.40am Funding Your Business and Business Planning with Rod Taylor and Tim Helliwell from Barclays Bank.
11.30am-12.10pm Innovation and Entrepreneurship, personal effectiveness - principles of success led by John Hyde, post MD of VT Plus/Hospitality Plus Training and Mary Jane Flanagan, training director of LearnPurple.
1-1.40pm Making Your Business Green with Karen Germain, networks manager of the Carbon Trust and Peter Roberts, consultant to Sodexho on the HCIMA's Carbon Trust-backed hospitable climates energy efficiency advisory programme.
4-4.40pm Legislation update including a look at ageism led by Sarah Jane Turcan, associate with Charles Russell.
Wednesday 22 February
10-1.40am Recruitment & Selection and Retaining Talent with Tim Brown, training director of LearnPurple.
11.30-12.10pm Employment Law: disciplinary procedures, absence and ill-health led by Stuart Chamberlain.
1-1.40pm Sourcing suppliers: catering equipment and food and beverage with Shabaz Mohamed, Pelican Buying.
2.30-3.20pm Be the Full Jigsaw! How to Solve the Hospitality Leadership Puzzle and Effective Appraisal Interviews with leadership speaker Alan Cutler and Fiona Rassall.
4-4.40pm Finance: Reading the Figures with Debra Adams.
Thursday 23 February
10-10.40am Making your Business Green with Matt Todd, project manager of CESHI and Liz Morrish, project manager, WRAP.
11.20-12noon The Road to Press Coverage - Q&A with media editors.
12.40-1.20pm Dinner Party Marketing and Post Event Marketing with David Curtis-Brignell, chairman of the Tourism Society, and director of marketing of Millennium & Copthorne, and Laura Moody of Nomadic Display.
