In April, Copthorne Merry Hill-Dudley was delighted to welcome students from the nearby Lordswood Girls School (part of the Lordswood Academies Trust) for a visit. The students were given an introduction into hospitality and were brought on a tour around the hotel.

They also got to participate in hospitality exercises through games that were designed specially to demonstrate the various aspects of hospitality roles, such as that of a Food & Beverage Assistant.

The visit was supported by General Manager Mr Stuart Fleming, Operations Manager Mr Mark Childs, Meetings & Events Manager Mr Ollie Baker and Food & Beverage Assistants Ms Liz Cooper and Ms Bev Bull. The students were taken through examples of table layups with a ‘spot the mistake’ game, serviette origami, a how-to on different plate carrying methods, and a table layup competition.

Overall, the students enjoyed their visit to learn more about the hospitality industry. The school visit was part of a programme led by Lordswood Academy Lead Professional in Health Studies Ms Patricia Faulkner, who specialises in Food & Cookery, aimed at delivering hospitality training to future stars of the industry. From what the hotel team has seen, some of the origami skills certainly rivalled theirs!