Interview: Alain Najar at EHL Lausanne
As part of the suite of unique learning opportunities offered to Team Gold members, our winning finalists from 2023 and 2024 recently embarked on a four-day educational programme at EHL Hospitality Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, run by former senior lecturer Alain Najar and now consultant of his company called Najar Hospitality Consulting. Najar, himself […]
Five minutes with our 2024 Scholar, Scott Crowe
What brought you to the UK? How did you end up pursuing a career in hospitality? I left home at 19 to pursue my first passion: football. I studied and played in New York for a little over a year before deciding to go and visit family in Scotland for a short two-week holiday during […]
Scott Crowe named 2024 Gold Service Scholarship Scholar
Scott Crowe, a supervisor at Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, was announced as the 2024 Gold Service Scholarship Scholar last night at the annual awards ceremony at Claridge’s hotel in London. Crowe, who is originally from Australia, has been at Balmoral for five years, initially starting as a chef de rang before working his way up […]
The Gold Service Scholarship 2024 winning finalists revealed
The names of the eight front of house professionals who have reached the final of the 2024 Gold Service Scholarship have been revealed today. They come from a wide variety of hospitality establishments ranging from hotels, members clubs and standalone restaurants. The winning finalists are based across the UK – with Scotland, the South-west […]
The Gold Service Scholarship 2024 reveals successful semi-finalists
(Photo of our quarter finalists at the recent heat held at The Langham) The 40 food and beverage front-of-house professionals who have made it through to the semi-final of the 2024 Gold Service Scholarship have been revealed. The pool of candidates has come from across the industry, from pubs and private members’ clubs to Michelin-starred […]
Winning Finalists report back on their EHL study trip
Our 2020 and 2022 finalists spent four days at the EHL Hospitality Business School in Switzerland for a bespoke programme on improving restaurant performance, covering topics from cutting costs and waste, building sales and profits, and managing demand and capacity; to service design and innovation and value creation. Read more about the experience and what […]
Commended Finalist, Robin Tola, reports on his Stage at Waterside Inn
After being nominated one of the 8 Winning Finalists of the Gold Service Scholarship 2023 , I was awarded with several prizes that would allow me to learn and develop my professional career under several aspects. One of them was to spend a week of Stage in one of the iconic Restaurants across the United […]
Team Gold makes a study trip to the Mosel
July saw the 2023 scholarship alumni, including Scholar Jupiter Humphrey-Bishop and some of the GSS trustees, make a study trip to Germany’s Mosel Valley, where they were hosted by winemaker SA Prüm – a family that has been cultivating vineyards and producing wine in the region since 1156. Welcomed by Raymond Prum, his wife Pirjo […]
Interview: Paul Jackson from Claridge’s shares his views on service
Luxury brands and service aren’t about revolution, they’re about evolution, says Paul Jackson, general manager of Claridge’s. We spoke to him about his career journey, what makes good service, and understanding the guest journey ————————- Tell us a bit about your career history? I actually come from a family of lawyers but, […]
Team Gold enjoy three-day Porto study trip
Last month, the 2022 winning finalists, and Scholar Thomas Gammella, along with trustees Edward Griffiths, Sergio Rebecchi and Silvano Giraldin, jetted off to Symington Family Estates in Portugal’s Douro Valley for a special study tour to learn about Graham’s Port. The Symingtons are a British family who have been producing Port and Douro wines for more than 130 years, one of the last remaining port families who produce […]