The Hotel Takeover
In the first week of May, ten young people currently studying at Bradford College stepped into The Great Victoria hotel ready to take over the business! From 7am to 11pm, the students worked in shifts to run the entire hotel. With jobs ranging from Receptionist to General Manager, the students ensured that the hotel continued to run smoothly throughout the week.
Selected from a competitive field of peers due to their professionalism, hospitality skills and commitment to the sector, the young people impressed hotel General Manager Daniel Kirkham immensely, so much so that he offered job roles to several of the participants. Daniel sits as Chair of the SkillsHouse CTE Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Board and is keen to support local young people with employability skills.
In collaboration with SkillsHouse CTE, the hotel was partnered with Bradford College Travel & Tourism Tutor Sarah O’Connell, who all organised this fantastic, successful event together. One of the students said “It was really beneficial to be able to work towards the customer service part of the hospitality unit at college and then practice these new skills in a real-life working environment during the Hotel Takeover”.
All students who participated received a suite of digital skills badges recognised by the hotel to showcase the skills they developed which can be used to support future job applications.