Event Planning and Customer Service students from Solihull College & University Centre were specially invited to the Holiday Inn at Birmingham Airport recently to meet British chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White. Marco was the youngest chef ever to have been awarded three Michelin stars and has also trained notable chefs such as Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, Curtis Stone and Shannon Bennett.
The 20 students and 4 staff from the College were lucky enough to hear a talk from the HR Manager of The Holiday Inn about the Events that take place at the hotel and then had an exclusive 75 minute question and answer session with Marco.
The event was streamed live on Facebook via Marco Pierre White Restaurants. Louise Kelleher, a student who attended the trip stated ‘it was amazing to meet Marco, I couldn’t ask for a better experience, he really gave us great advice, he told us not to let our insecurities take over and to let our worries melt away when working in the industry.’
‘Marco told us to knock on doors in the sector and to make ourselves as memorable as possible, he said above all he wants to work with nice people, so the best quality is to be kind.’ Ben who also attended the trip mentioned ‘the trip helped me narrow down which area of customer service I’d like to go into’.
Marco answered every question and offered advice on the industry invaluable to event planning and customer service students. Marco’s Q&A was preceded by Heather Jones, Group People Manager at the Holiday Inn. Heather discussed customer service and organising events in the hotel industry, helping students establish an idea of hotel work.
The students gave a great impression of Solihull College & University Centre and hope to assist the Holiday Inn on future events.
Find out more about Solihull College & University Centre’s Event Planning courses.
