Inspirational hotel tour for hospitality students
Hospitality students from Harrogate College have enjoyed an educational tour of Rudding Park.
Fifteen hospitality students were guided around the luxury hotel, and given an insight into its catering facilities and procedures, by Chef Consultant Stephanie Moon.
The March trip was organised to prepare the students, who have all secured roles with a variety of local employers, for a work experience week while enriching their studies.
Perfect preparation for work
Harrogate College’s Cultural, Contemporary and Heritage Studies Programme Manager, Jason Parry, said: “This was a great experience for our students, and good preparation for their work placements.
“They were given a welcome toast and then, as part of the guided tour by Stephanie, shown various suites including the impressive ‘home cinema’ room.
“We were also shown around the multiple kitchen and food production areas which are used to produce food for the entire site. These led to the amazing kitchen gardens where we saw a variety of food being grown to sustain the kitchens – and a few of our more adventurous students tried some of the more unusual plants!”
A resilient industry
Harrogate College, which runs a range of hospitality and professional cookery courses, has been working closely with local businesses to help the sector recover from the impact of the pandemic and repeated lockdowns.
That effort has been strengthened through the creation of the Harrogate College Employers’ Network, which launched in 2021.
So the visiting students and staff were pleased to hear encouraging news on that front from Rudding Park’s leadership team.
Jason added: “We finished the tour with some inspirational talks by key members of the management team, who shared their love for the industry and the opportunities it can provide.
“They also shared their post-Covid plan for recruiting and retaining staff, which really shows how the industry can meet the current needs of the employees’ market. This is a real win for our students and the industry, showing its post-pandemic resilience.”