Member Article

Management trainees graduated with help from a Solihull hotel

Two management trainees at a Solihull hotel are preparing to graduate from college and university.

Siobhan Chambers and Olly Shepherd have been supported throughout their studies by Hogarths Hotel & Restaurant in Four Ashes Road, Dorridge.

Twenty-eight-year-old Siobhan from Shirley has completed the CIPD – the professional organisation for Human Resources and people development – level 5 in HR management at Solihull College and Olly, aged 21 from Solihull, has passed a foundation degree in business management and communications from Oxford Brookes University.

Siobhan previously worked in the airline industry with a strong focus on customer service and hospitality before she joined the four-star hotel six years ago.

She started as a hotel receptionist when the venue had just 12 bedrooms before becoming wedding co-ordinator, looking after over 100 weddings annually, before a role was created for her to become personal assistant to the general manager and owners during Hogarths’ expansion from 18 to 49 bedrooms along with a new reception, the Bar8 Brasserie and champagne bar.

Siobhan said: “My role as personal assistant varied a lot and included driving standards in human resources, maintaining quality and standards in all departments, supporting all team members, serving guests in the Brasserie and I have also been known to drop into the housekeeping department and make beds!

“All of this has given me an insight into HR which led to me applying for a position on the CIPD course at Solihull College and I am delighted that I’ve been promoted to HR Manager following the completion of my studies.

“I am very excited about the role here as it is very people focused. The business wouldn’t be able to operate without the commitment and dedication of all our staff and it is very important to me that we take the time to develop and invest in our people – and both Olly and I are a perfect example of that!”

Olly, who is assistant brasserie manager, is now going to start a top-up degree with Oxford Brookes University in BA Honours in Business Management.

He said: “As part of my work in the Bar8 Brasserie, I am developing new standards and helping my management team to drive sales.

“We were all really pleased when the hotel achieved four AA stars and we are all working hard to achieve the AA’s four red-stars which are only given to the top hotels in the UK.

“We are both grateful to the support and encouragement we received from Hogarths Hotel during our studies and we are looking forward to progressing our careers here.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .