The Editor's Hospitality Blog

Congratulations to everyone at the British Hospitality Association, which this afternoon marks its centenary year with a celebratory lunch at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

For our part, we have marked the occasion by inviting BHA Chief Executive, Bob Cotton, to guest-edit Caterer and Hotelkeeper this week. Bob's issue hits the news stand tomorrow, and is as thought-provoking as you would expect from a man known for his stongly-held opinions.

I'm going along to today's lunch, and I'll report back on what goes on later on.

Some 1200 captains of industry turned out at this afternoon's BHA centenary lunch at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane - and I got the first name-check of the event!

Opening the event in front of a packed house, BHA Chief Executive, Bob Cotton said, "now I know how Mark Lewis feels when he opens the Cateys!" Bob went on to point out that the BHA lunch was taking place on the very day that power at No 10 passed from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown, meaning that, for a few hours at least, no one in government was formally responsible for regulating the hospitality industry. (Bob later went on to make a plea to "leave us alone and stop trying to regulate hospitality more and more").

The guest list read like a who's-who of the industry. My table alone boasted such luminaries as One Aldych supremo Gordon Campbell Gray, Jeremy Goring of the Goring Hotel and Regent Inns executive chairman, Bob Ivell. There was a very complimentary name-check for Jeremy Goring's hotel later on in the afternoon, to which Jeremy responded by punching the air and whispering "get in there!" to me.

The afternoon's two guest speakers were Sir Rocco Forte and Sir David Michels - who were introduced as "two young men with promising careers ahead of them". In his speech, Sir Rocco questioned the hotel industry's increasingly short-termist, money-oriented approach. He stressed the value of continuity, dedication, nurturing your staff and treating the customer as king.

My favourite tale of the day? Gordon Campbell Gray's admission that when he was in Antigua overseeing the development and launch of his Carlisle Bay resort, the task was so all-consuming, and at times such an uphill battle, that when Christmas Day came, he holed up in his room alone and ate a whole box of Quality Street.

Finally, well done to the Grosvenor House - it can't be easy catering for such a vast number of hospitality bigwigs, and for the record I thought the food was enjoyable and the service professional.

Last week, twelve months of celebrations to mark the British Hospitality Association's centenary climaxed with a lavish dinner in the magnificent Locarno Suite of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Whitehall.

If BHA Chief Executive Bob Cotton had received air miles for all his nationwide travels during the centenary year, he'd surely be enjoying a well-deserved holiday in Australia this Christmas. As well as this summer's well-attended BHA Luncheon in London, the association has held a series of events throughout the British Isles, enabling members nationwide to share in the festivities. Bob has been at them all.

Sodexho's boutique catering arm, Directors Table, laid on a suitably impressive dinner that drew inspiration from all of the regions Bob has visited during the past year. For an expat Welshman like me, the highlight was the Welsh lamb with laverbread mash. Who'd have thought seaweed and potatoes would combine to such delicious effect?

Donegal crab cake on FCO tartar sauce

English coxes orange pippins baked in puff pastry on Famous Grouse cream

Yesterday's Mail on Sunday quoted the British Hospitality Association's chief executive, Bob Cotton as saying that his industry considered British applicants "unemployable".

Cotton's comments were made at a recent parliamentary inquiry into tourism. Now he has written a response to the Mail on Sunday article, which I'm reproducing in full below. What are your thoughts on the issue? Do many British youngsters lack a decent work ethic? Do workers from overseas provide a long-term solution to staff shortages in hospitality? And what should be done to draw greater numbers of British workers into the sector?

"Last week, in giving evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Tourism, the high incidence of employment of migrant labour in the hospitality industry was raised.

I believe that this is one of the major challenges facing the industry. Hospitality employs so many migrant workers because it is clear that few British youngsters want to make a career in the hospitality industry – at a time when unemployment among British young people is high and rising, and when too many others are on benefit.

Of course there are many British workers, like overseas workers, who are highly motivated, very willing to work and eager to learn new skills. The industry would far prefer to recruit these young people if they were available but many employers have found, too often, that British youngsters lack a work ethic and the motivation to learn. When migrant workers are knocking on their door and asking for a job, then it is little wonder that hospitality employers look to overseas workers to fill the many excellent and worthwhile jobs that are available.

The industry has always been highly cosmopolitan. The current wave of migrant workers is nothing really new. It follows a similar influx of workers from other countries in the past, and the industry – and the general economy - has gained hugely by their presence.

If the education system could produce more young British people who are more motivated to work, want to learn new vocational skills and are keen to make a career in one of the most important of this country’s economic drivers, then employers would snap them up.

Marcus Wareing and Sat Bains will be leading the line-up of eminent chefs demoing recipes at next week's Northern Restaurant & Bar. Northern England's largest pub, bar and restaurant show runs on 7 and 8 April at Manchester Central (formerly GMEX).

Here's five more reasons why you should swing by the show:

* this year's show has attracted a record 210 exhibitors.
* Cocktail demonstrations from some of the North’s most talented bartenders.
* Marcus Wareing will be signing copies of his new book ‘One Perfect Ingredient’.
* The seminar programme includes speakers from the Considerate Hoteliers Association, the British Hospitality Association and Ego Restaurants - who'll be speaking about how to overcome staffing problems.
* On the evening of Monday 7th April the winners of the Northern Hospitality Awards will be announced at a gala dinner hosted at The Lowry Hotel.

It's been a busy week! I breakfasted with Jaume Tapies, chairman of Relais & Chateaux, last Friday, at the group's recently-opened 'maison' in London's Beauchamp Place. the property is effectively a shop window for the hundreds of luxury restaurants and hotels within the collection, offering passers-by a chance to browse marketing material and cookbooks, get a sense of the properties and book a stay.

Tapies tells me that Relais & Chateaux has been prospecting British hotels and has for the first time been "knocking on doors" at those hotels it feels would be worthy additions to the brand. He expects that at least ten or twelve more UK properties will feature in the collection in the next two to three years. He also promises that the 2009 guide will "change completely" from previous years' editions, with the generic page template replaced by a fresher and more design-led approach.

Monday of this week saw the start of three days of intensive Cateys judging at the splendid Dorchester Hotel on London's Park Lane. I now know the identies of the majority of Cateys winners for 2008 - but if I told you I'd then have to kill you, as they say, so I'm keeping shtumm. What I can tell you is that the winners were chosen by a bewildering array of hospitality's great and good. Judges included Brian Wisdom of People 1st, the IOH's Philippe Rossiter, Bob Cotton, Heston Blumenthal, Hotelier of the Year Michael Gray, Robert Cook of Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, Travelodge's Grant Hearn, William Baxter, Alaistair Storey, Marcus Wareing and a host of other big names.

Judging is an exacting - and exhausting - process. Luckily, I was able to recharge the batteries with a fortifying dinner at Restaurant Tom Aikens, above the King's Road. the occasion was the restaurant's fifth birthday, and Tom pulled out all the stops to create a stunning tasting menu that was complemented by great wines picked by head sommelier and 2008 UK Sommelier of the Year winner, Gearoid Devaney. Happy birthday, Tom.

One award not yet allocated is the Silver Award - and we need your help with this category. Which individual has, in your opinion, done more to further the cause of UK hospitality in the past 25 years? let us know and you could win yourself a pair of tickets to the industry 's Oscars night in July.

Just a quick post to say well done to the deserved winners of the British Hospitality Association's (BHA) awards, which were announced at the industry trade body's annual luncheon yesterday.

Catey winning Baxterstorey won the training award for its Chef Academy, and fellow contract caterer Sodexo won the environment award (group) for "green" best practice throughout its organisation.

Pub company Orchid won the large business food category and Lakeside hotel in Cumbria the small business food catergory.

Well done Milsom Hotels for picking up the tourism award and also Acorn House, a former Caterer Green Month star, for nabbing the environment award (independent).

The CBI's Richard Lambert was certainly straight-talking in his views of what the Government should and shouldn't be doing to aid the hospitality industry as we move into potentially tougher economic times. BHA chief executive Bob Cotton's comments on food inflation are well worth reading also.

Don't forget our dedicated food inflation page on the website. Its chock-full of the latest news, features and reports on rising food costs, including tips on how to mitigate the punishing price rises caterers have seen recently.