Manchester Hoteliers’ Association (MHA) has renewed its partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) pairing students with leaders of some of the city’s biggest hotels enrolling them on mentorship programmes which is set to launch on 9th November.
Final year BA (Hons) Hospitality Business Management students will begin the scheme to learn a range of direct general manager skills including forecasting, payroll, overview costs, RevPAR and online digital marketing – all whilst working on the job.
The course has been running for six years and has been praised by hospitality students previously as ‘an advanced scheme that allows valuable insights into life as a general manager’ at some of Manchester’s leading hotels and last year resulted in ten new jobs being created for young graduates.
MHA chair Adrian Ellis, Chris Mitchell, principal lecturer at MMU and Diane Connelly, Senior Lecturer at MMU run the initiative which they say ‘has been designed to attract students to careers in the hotel industry to help with tackling the recruitment challenge the hospitality industry faces – but more importantly, to retain talent.’
Adrian, who is working as a mentor in his day-to-day role as The Lowry Hotel’s General Manager, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting this extremely beneficial programme again this year and has been important for our industry over the past six years. The programme will create opportunities for the next generation and help our industry tackle recruitment challenges.
“Our hotel mentors are extremely proactive and engaged, allowing mentees to be guided through a real-time view of operations in key city centre hotels, giving them invaluable experience in the industry.”
Christopher Mitchell, Programme Leader for IHBM at Manchester Metropolitan University said: “The Mentoring Scheme involves MHA industry leaders assisting our IHBM students in adapting to the culture of the organisations and helping them develop their career opportunities. In this, our sixth year, Diane, Adrian and the general managers have created a learning relationship that will assist the mentees in taking ownership of their development, their skills and their knowledge by achieving the career that they value. Thanks to all GMs, for achieving the success stories and for your ongoing support!”
The MHA has over 50 members made up of general managers of hotels throughout the region. Its key objectives are being a strong voice for the hotel community, and continually improving the offering for visitors spending time in the city.
The mentor programme began on the 9th November and will continue until the end of term in May 2022.
