Burnley students take over a hotel for a day (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley students take over a hotel for a day

12:00pm Saturday 16th March 2013 in News

A GROUP of students from a Burnley secondary school were given the keys to a busy hotel for a day.

A total of 17 from Sir John Thursby College helped to run the Holiday Inn Express in Pendle Way on Thursday.

The students had to go through the hotel’s recruitment and interview process before landing the roles.

David Burton, headteacher at Sir John Thursby, said: “It was a massive success and a fabulous day.

“Holiday Inn Express are our business in the community partner and the general manager first suggested it in the autumn.

“At first they were going to have 12 students running things for the day but they were so impressed they ended up with 17 students who looked after 50 guests during the daytime.

“It gives students great experience, one of the things that they often don’t have when applying for jobs is the experience so this will be a great benefit to them.”

Kerian Barnes, regional manager of Starboard Hotels, who run the Holiday Inn Express chain, said: “Young people are the future of hospitality, so we wanted these students to gain an understanding that running a hotel involves much more than just a career front-of-house.”