Business training division

In 2002, two large local catering companies – Heritage Hospitality and Portfolio Catering – merged to form Heritage Portfolio Ltd, bring together over fifty permanent staff. The company specialises in corporate, exhibition, public event and private catering, which means that it often requires large numbers of contract and temporary staff. One of the ways it achieves this is through a close partnership with Quality Link Recruitment who supply over 5000 shifts per year to Heritage Portfolio, providing a vital source of temporary staff.
Ian D’Annunzio-Green, Heritage Portfolio’s Executive Director, saw staff development as a crucial means of managing the change and driving the business forward while retaining key personnel. “Retention is an issue at the best of times in the hospitality sector. Bringing together two cultures through the merger created an additional worry that we might lose some of our best people.
Together Heritage Portfolio and Quality Link Recruitment approached Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce to design an appropriate staff development programme. The accredited training programme that we devised is based on the Modern Apprenticeships. As the Chamber was able to access Scottish Enterprise funding for this project, it didn’t involve any direct cost for the two businesses involved.
The programme is open to all staff interested in working towards a nationally recognised hospitality qualification. To date the Chamber has provided training in Appraisal, Business Writing, Customer Care, First Aid, Leadership, Marketing, Presentation Skills and Selling, as well as in-company assessor and trainer training.
Reaction to the programme has been positive and results have so far exceeded everyone’s expectations. As Ian says “Those staff who we were fearful of loosing have remained loyal to the company. Individuals who seamed devoted by the threat of the merger are now engaged with and committed to the organisation.
Overall, both organisations are delighted with the progress to date and looking to extend the programme over the coming year. Since starting the training programme, staff say that they feel as though their contribution makes a difference, that the company is interested in them and what they’re doing. Staff feel more valued and are enjoying the new opportunities and challenges presented by their jobs.
The Chamber believes that other companies who share the same retention challenges could benefit from a similar model. The beauty of this particular arrangement is its simplicity. Everyone gets what they want; the companies benefit from an ongoing development programme that ensures consistency and offers opportunities without incurring any direct costs; staff, meanwhile, get to enjoy the programme and feel their needs are being addresses.