MONTH IN REVIEW
COMMENT | PETER HANCOCK
Independent
Spirits
By PETER HANCOCK
L
ast month I had the enormous businessman so I suppose I have Independent Hotel Show which takes
pleasure of meeting and always looked up to the breed and am place at London’s Olympia on October
speaking with some of the surrounded by them in my role with 17th & 18th. If you’ve been before
students at The Edge Hotel School Pride of Britain Hotels. It’s interesting you will know that all the business
near Colchester. It’s part of the to see how keen they are to obtain sessions are carefully planned to
University of Essex and offers an advice from many sources even cover relevant topics and they
intensive two year degree course though they may choose to ignore only allow exhibitors whose goods
in hotel management, saving the it before, for example, opening a or services fit with the luxury and
students a bundle by not stretching new hotel in a place not known as boutique sector. What I like about that
it out over the usual three years, a magnet for tourists or building an show is the chance to mingle with
with the unique advantage of being expensive spa with little evidence of successful hoteliers while learning
incorporated into Wivenhoe House, a local interest in membership. Such about what’s new and how others are
real hotel with real paying customers, people often confound the experts dealing with their own challenges. I
so students can learn on the job in all and seem to make things happen also have the privilege of hosting their
departments and be industry ready through sheer force of will, recalling a awards ceremony on the evening of
when they qualify. maxim attributed to Winston Churchill: the first day so will discover who is to
“success is the art of moving from replace The Capital’s Kate Levin as
asked whether it was better to aim one failure to another, with no loss of “Independent Hotelier of the Year”.
for a managerial role or to aspire to enthusiasm”.
During our informal session I was
become an owner. My answer was
I have seen the list of nominees
and it makes fascinating reading
simple: we’re all of us born with certain in our industry may struggle with because alongside owners are
personality traits and in my opinion occasionally is the loneliness that general managers who, despite
those who run their own businesses comes from striking out on one’s being employees, adopt many of the
tend to be natural entrepreneurs own. They can’t very well confide all attributes of a proprietor. This is the
while the rest of us, the great majority problems to their staff nor do they way things are going, especially in
in fact, are destined always to be have a boss to go to for advice. Here’s larger hotel businesses, with fewer and
employees. There is something special where associations like the British fewer owners being involved in the day
about people with the nerve to take Hospitality Association (BHA) and to day operation and an increasing
big risks, sometimes repeatedly. the rapidly advancing Association of reliance on GMs who are seen by both
They don’t all succeed of course, but Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) customers and staff as the “face” of
the ones who do are responsible for can be so useful, bringing operators the business.
generating the wealth upon which all together to fight the industry’s of society depends. corner. But there is also an event can neither make nor lose millions in
I’d recommend to any owner – the the process.
My father was a self-made
20
One thing that entrepreneurs
www.hotelowner.co.uk
The only real difference is they
September 2017