Acorn Winner 2006: Jason Bates

Jason Bates
Age: 26
Position: Meetings and events operations manager, Thistle hotel, Bristol

Career to date… Bates is only three years into a management career which began with a role as front office manager at the Thistle hotel in Cardiff. He then moved to a similar role in the larger Thistle hotel, Bristol, where he was soon promoted to his current position.

The meetings and events department accounts for a revenue of £2.5m, 40% of the hotel's turnover.

Why is he a winner? When Bates started in the meetings and events department, he introduced a direct feedback form for conference customers, and the satisfaction level has exceeded 90%. The simple strategy of thanking his customers with a bottle of wine for completing the form has allowed him to gain the knowledge to improve the service and standards in the hotel.

He has won back and retained numerous accounts from key city conference and banqueting bookers (estimated at a value of £125,000). He has also introduced new ways of recruiting casual and part-time staff, allowing the Christmas and New Year period, usually staffed by agency staff, to be operated entirely by his "own" team of casuals.

He has provided talks and open forum discussions to A level students, including tours of the hotel and of the meetings and events department. He also assists with one-on-one discussions with various students interested in the industry.