Businesses Must Prepare For Growth

The launch of the 2010 People 1st State of the Nation report at the end of May attracted over 160 of the great and the good from hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism. The report provides a definitive snapshot of the labour market for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism (HLTT).

Opening the launch, People 1st's chairman, David Fairhurst, was upbeat about the opportunities for the sector and encouraged businesses to prepare for growth.

“The report comes at a pivotal time for the country and our sector. Pivotal for the country in that we face a decade of challenges and opportunities – the challenges which will accompany our new government's efforts to get our public finances back on track and the opportunities that will emerge from the recession and for our sector in particular as it enters what has been called by some as a golden decade of sport.

"We're entering a decade where the world will be beating a path to our door and it's the 14 industries that make up the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector that will be waiting to welcome them.”

He confirmed that with the support of the new coalition government, People 1st is in a strong position to deliver on the five key commitments to the sector and the UK.

• To help Britain back to work and offer work placements to 50,000 long-term unemployed people over the next two years.
• To help accelerate social mobility by creating unique opportunities for individuals to work in front-line roles and then progress through to board-level positions.
• To make Britain's welcome to the world even warmer in the years ahead by delivering on the National Skills Strategy.
• To further improve the professionalisation of the sector's workforce.
• To increase investment by business in skills.

Summarising the key points within the report, Martin-Christian Kent, director of policy and research at People 1st, confirmed that awareness of skills gaps was increasing as employers were closely scrutinising the abilities of their workforce.

“Whilst there is a degree of sophistication in training, the sector still needs to address three key areas where there are skills gaps – customer service, leadership and management, and craft skills,” concluded Kent.

He was followed by specialists involved in the recent successful Vancouver Winter Olympics who shared the lessons they had learnt from preparing for and hosting the Games in Canada.