UCM and Visit Isle of Man Host Industry Skills Focus Groups

University College Isle of Man (UCM), in partnership with Visit Isle of Man, has hosted a focus group specifically looking at the skills within the hospitality, catering and services industry.

The session, which was held at UCM’s Homefield Road campus in February, was the first event planned to look at the skills gaps within the industry for both young people finishing school as well as adults who want to retrain or upskill.

Angela Byrne from Visit Isle of Man said: ‘This industry is hugely exciting and we’re fortunate on the Isle of Man to have a broad range of businesses in this space; from big hotels to small cafes and fine dining, to fun family restaurants, and of course plenty of wonderful activities for visitors and locals to enjoy. We want to remind everyone, especially young people, that the hospitality industry is an excellent career choice; it’s not just something they can do as a part time or weekend job before they get their ‘real job’ when they’re older.

‘We’ve recently seen some great examples, such as BA (Hons) Event Management and Marketing graduate Drew Fleming, who was selected as the winner of the very first 50 Best Bars, winning the ‘Blend Scholarship’, which really shows how fantastic a career in this industry can be and how quickly you can progress through the ranks.

‘But we know there are skills gaps, which is why we’re proud to be working with UCM and our industry colleagues to look at this important issue. The aim of the focus group is to pinpoint what is needed now as well as the direction of the industry over the next few years; ensuring that staff in the industry and new employees have the skills they need.’

Kerry Birchall, who oversees Adult Learning at UCM, added: ‘It’s so important for us to understand the needs of the industry so that we deliver learning that is both attractive to the students and that supports businesses and the local economy. We’re looking at both what we teach and how we teach it; whether that’s training courses, bitesize learning and short courses, for example.

‘Our plan is to host further focus groups and to build on those conversations to ensure continuous assessment and improvement of our offering. If anyone within the industry would like to join the sessions, we’d love to hear from you.’

This hospitality industry-specific event follows UCM’s curriculum planning conference, which was held last year where representatives from a wide variety of industries attended. UCM has been hosting other similar focus groups and meetings for other industries.