Dundee to pledge more than 300 hospitality job opportunities

Dundee will pledge more than 300 hospitality job opportunities for young people, when the city hosts the third Scottish Big Hospitality Conversation on 26 January 2016.

Over 70 Scottish businesses are expected to attend the event and make up to 100 pledges for new jobs and more than 200 apprenticeships and work placements for 16-24-year-olds.

The event, which is led by the British Hospitality Association (BHA) in a UK-wide partnership with Springboard and Department for Work and Pensions, will be held at the Apex hotel.

It follows on from last year's Big Hospitality Conversation in Glasgow, where 97 new jobs, 65 apprenticeships and 180 work experience placements were created.

The initiative started in 2012 to help create 60,000 hospitality career starts for young people in the UK by the end of 2016.

In Scotland, hospitality businesses currently employ around 256,000 people, making up 9% of the workforce, which is set to grow significantly in the next five years.

Willie Macleod, executive director BHA Scotland, said: "We are really looking forward to hosting the next Big Hospitality Conversation in the thriving city of Dundee where one-to-one and group conversations with key business leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry can really change young people's lives.

"Our aim is to build on the success of the previous two events held in Glasgow last year and Edinburgh the year before and bring together over 70 businesses and around 100 young people under one roof, to highlight the wide range of training, qualifications and long-term career opportunities across all areas of the industry."

Anne Pierce, chief executive of Springboard, added: "Springboard is proud to be one of the founder partners of the Big Hospitality Conversation. It is recognised that work experience plays a key part in influencing a person's career choice and this is why we are taking a lead role in this initiative."

Regeneration work is currently being undertaken in Dundee, including plans to transform the waterfront with new hotels and restaurants and the building of the V&A Museum.

For more information visit http://www.bha.org.uk/events/event/big-hospitality-conversation-dundee/

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