Reaction: Chancellor's Autumn Statement 2011

Stewart Segal ~ Non-executive Director of HIT Training gives his reaction to the Chancellor's Autumn Statement 2011.

The Chancellor delivered an Autumn Statement that contained some tough messages today. Growth in the economy has slowed, borrowing has not reduced as much as the Government had hoped and there will be more job losses in the public sector. This follows the bad news on unemployment last week. However there were some measures that should help business, particularly smaller businesses. We know that the hospitality sector has a lot of small businesses and much of the growth on the economy will come from small and medium sized businesses.  

WORLDSKILLS PROVES A MASSIVE HIT

WorldSkills London 2011, the largest ever international skills Competition and careers event took place during early October at the Excel exhibition and conference centre.


1,000 young competitors from 51 nations were competing to be the best of the best in 45 different skill area’s which featured Cooking, Confectioner Pastry and Restaurant Service . The event lasted four days with team GB winning 13 medals in total, five of them were gold with Ben Murphy winning gold in the Cooking event.


More than 200,000 people from the UK visited and were inspired by the dedication of the teams taking part in the Competition.


Visitors were able to Have a Go at hundreds of new skills, meet top employers and get specialist careers advice to help make that important next step.

Reaction: Youth Unemployment Reaches 1 Million

Stewart Segal ~ Non-executive Director of HIT Training gives his reaction to this weeks news of unemployment figures among the young. 


This week the level of unemployment amongst young people aged up to 24 reached over 1 million. 
Although this was predicted by all of the newspapers it did not make the news any easier to accept. It is clear that as companies try and keep their costs down they are reluctant to take on young people who need training and support in the early stages of their careers. 


This makes Apprenticeships as a route into work even more important for young people and provides companies the opportunity to maintain their recruitment of young people. 

SWISSOTEL WIN HIT TROPHY AT HACCC 2011

A record 48 football teams made up of employees from the UK’s top hotels and restaurants, competed in a charity football tournament in September to help raise funds for Springboard.


The Hotel and Catering Challenge Cup (HACCC) saw 48 top London hotels and restaurants accompanied by nearly 2000 supporters participate in a charity football tournament on Sunday 18 September 2011.  HIT were in attendance acting as stewards and also offering information on training and apprenticeships available to industry staff, whilst showing of one of their new MINI Countryman’s


The event raised £15,000 for Springboard, which helps young adults and disadvantaged teenagers gain experience in the hospitality and catering sector.