Stephanie Beresforde, 2017 Scholar’s Speech

Stephanie Beresforde, our 2017 Scholar, was invited to return to the stage at the 2018 Awards Ceremony, held at Claridges in February, to tell guests about her experiences over the last year.

Stephanie Beresforde, 2017 Scholar’s Blog: Winner’s visit to Laurent Perrier

First of all, I have to say what a fantastic start to the year it has been since this year’s Gold Service Scholarship. Having never visited a vineyard before, since the results were announced at Claridge’s on that wintery February evening, I have been lucky enough to visit the Champagne region three times as part […]

Jennifer Santner, 2016 Scholar’s Blog: Waterside Inn Placement

Day 1I’ve been looking forward to this for such a long time. Meeting Diego Masciaga is something many people in our industry dream of doing, let alone work with him for a few days. This is really going to be special My partner and I (we were fortunate to be offered a night’s stay at […]

Jennifer Santner, 2016 Scholar’s Blog: Finalists’ Champagne Trip

Tuesday, day 1The day had finally arrived and we were all super excited! We met at 7am at St Pancras train station to travel to Reims. Seeing all the finalists again after a long and eventful year was a rather special moment for all of us. We have all grown very fond of each other […]

Trustee Interview: Thomas Kochs – Managing Director, Hotel Cafe Royal

He has been the youngest ever GM at Claridges, led the reopening of the prestigious Connaught Hotel in Mayfair, and even fronted a prime-time BBC documentary. What he doesn’t know about hotels and service probably isn’t worth knowing. We caught up with Thomas Kochs, now MD of Hotel Cafe Royal in Soho, to gauge his […]

Jennifer Santner, 2016 Scholar’s Blog: Mandarin Oriental Placement

Day 1I left London at 8pm (after celebrating with a glass of Champagne) hoping to catch some sleep on the 12 hour flight. This proved rather difficult as I was too excited! Anyway, we arrived and I was warmly welcomed by a gentleman in a red jacket who greeted me with cold water and a […]