Local Kingston College Students ‘Take Over’ Premier Inn in Putney for the Day
Yesterday, Monday 8th February, students from Kingston College studying Travel and Tourism took part in a ‘take over’ at the Premier Inn located on Putney Bridge for the day.
Fifteen students got some hands-on experience running a busy London hotel with 179 bedrooms, an on-site restaurant and hundreds of guests. Each student was given a job description and was assigned a role such as Operations Manager, Receptionist, Duty Manager and Restaurant Team Manager. Premier Inn team members were on hand throughout the day to ensure all ran smoothly for guests and to offer their expertise to these hospitality professionals of the future.
The students took on the full responsibilities of each role and ran a busy breakfast, lunch and dinner service in our Thyme restaurant as well as checking guests in and out at reception. They also handled customer enquiries and made sure all housekeeping duties and bar services remained at the excellent standards Premier Inn guests have come to expect from the UK’s top rated hotel chain.*
Lidija Sinicina, Operations Manager at Premier Inn London Putney Bridge, who organised the ‘takeover’ said: “Here at Premier Inn we are keen to provide young people with opportunities to learn and develop. Hospitality is one of the fastest growing industries and we are constantly looking for passionate and talented individuals to furnish our team with. Our aim was to offer the students as authentic an experience as possible and by the end of the day we wanted them to leave with the confidence to apply for similar roles in the industry once their studies are completed.”
One of the students who took part, Luis Ornelas, said:
“This experience has been invaluable. It was great getting to learn what an Operations Manager at Premier Inn has to deal with on a daily basis – it’s not an easy job! I even managed to get into the kitchen to help with breakfast preparation under the watchful eye of the head chef Victor in the on-site Thyme restaurant. I look forward to starting my career in the hospitality industry when I finish my course!”
On the 9th April 2015 Whitbread PLC, owner of Premier Inn announced its commitment to create more than 6000 apprenticeships by 2020 to not only support Whitbread’s future success, but to also help a new generation to achieve their full potential. In each area of the UK, Premier Inn has been supporting a number of initiatives aimed at students and adults to help them grow and develop their employability skills.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
High res images from the day are available, please contact Claire Borgeat, Media Relations Manager for Premier Inn: Claire.borgeat@whitbread.com 07736 193010
About Premier Inn
*Premier Inn has been named the UK’s top rated hotel chain for 2015, according to the Which? UK Hotel Chains Report and with over 700 budget hotels and more than 60,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland, our customers are never far from a great night’s sleep. Our hotels are in more locations than any other UK hotel brand for the ease and convenience of families, couples and business travellers alike.
All our bedrooms feature en-suite bathrooms, a luxurious Hypnos bed, TV with Freeview and free WiFi. A bar and restaurant is situated inside each hotel or adjacent, offering a wide range of food choices including an all you can eat ‘Premier Breakfast’ from only £8.75 with kids eating free.
Customers who book direct through the Premier Inn website are able to exclusively enjoy Saver Rates. These rates are exclusively available through premierinn.com – terms and conditions apply.
Premier Inn is also open in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and India.
This year (2014-2015), over 80% of Premier Inn hotels achieved a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence – which recognises the accommodations, attractions and eateries that make perfect trips possible.
Premier Inn is Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity’s biggest corporate supporter and we have already raised £5 million of our £7.5million fundraising target with work already underway on a brand new Premier Inn Clinical Building at the hospital. The funds raised go towards supporting the care of some of the sickest children across the globe.
About Kingston College
Kingston College is a major provider for further, higher and adult education in Kingston-upon-Thames. In February 2013, Ofsted awarded Kingston College Grade 2 – ‘Good’, making the College one of only a few London colleges with rising academic standards. Situated in a thriving town centre, the College offers both academic and vocational courses from Levels 1 to 6 and provides students with a friendly, stimulating environment for study. From over 11,000 current students more than 600 take up places at university each year.
