Three big driving forces in the UK hospitality sector are working together to make it a rich source of careers for graduates.
Need to up skill and attract British recruits
The first is the much talked about Brexit. Britain’s departure from the European Union looks set to force many thousands of people to leave their jobs in UK hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions to return to their countries of origin.
The trend to recruit hospitality staff from overseas will be strangled by a sea of red tape, delays and costs; the side-effects of Britain stepping outside the EU’s free-flowing marketplace.
It means hospitality employers must look more to the indigenous workforce. This, in turn, means they must help boost the skill pool and make careers in this sector far more attractive to the British. Human Resource teams need a whole new perspective on recruitment.
As this mass exodus from employment in UK hotels and restaurants largely involves lower-skilled jobs, how does it affect graduates? Read on and it will become clear.
Technological revolution including remote retailing
A second push and pull on the UK hospitality sector is the relentless drive for automation, agile processes and cutting-edge technology. Remote retailing is going to be high on many IT agendas. For example, this enables consumers to order meals in advance; walk into fast food restaurants then leave with products that are billed automatically using sensors; check into hotels and access rooms via their mobile phones.
This list of possibilities is exciting. However, it’s easier than ever for competitors to steal market share by making technological investments that are out of reach for some.
New data protection laws in the hospitality business
Much of the technology mentioned above relies on collating and holding personal data on clients. Many modern marketing methods involve loyalty incentives or contacting qualified leads. Compliance with the current Data Protection Act is a headache for many hospitality business, but some are blissfully aware that it is about to get even more difficult.
The 2018 EU General Data Protection Regulations will affect any organisation that holds data on EU citizens. So, British hotels and restaurants are unlikely to be immune. It creates complex obligations to provide consumers with far greater protection on how personal information (name, address etc) is collected, stored, shared, used and disposed of.
For example, personal data will need to be encrypted, to render it unusable to anyone else in the event of a data breach. And who holds the encryption key needs careful planning, especially as it needs an auditable process for turning it back into the information that hospitality business need day-to-day.
Hospitality sector needs new skills
You may have already spotted a trend here. New skills. New competencies. Cutting edge technology and processes. Hotels and restaurants need managers and leaders who can revolutionise human resources, customer care, data protection and data analysis.
It means that the UK hospitality sector needs graduates more than ever. Studying at Mont Rose College in Ilford will provide you with the latest insights and real experience of the challenges and opportunities.
