8:22am Thursday 18th March 2010
YORK’S new five-star hotel has been inundated by people seeking work, with 50 job applications now arriving every day.
The Cedar Court Grand Hotel & Spa, which is creating 160 jobs, has already received 650 CVs ahead of its opening on April 26.
Val Lindley, human resources manager, whose in-tray is stacked two feet high with applications and CVs, said: “I’ve never known anything like this. People are just so eager to come and work at The Grand.”
She revealed that although the hospitality industry had seen a rise in redundancies since the recession began, the vast majority of applicants were currently in full-time employment. She believed this suggested it was the appeal of working in a five-star environment that was attracting them.
“They realise what a significant project it is – in hospitality terms it’s one of a kind in Yorkshire – and the benefits to their career could be massive,” she said.
She said The Grand was committed to recruiting as many staff as possible from the York area, and the majority of applications were from in and around the city. However, people had also applied from Scotland, Newcastle and West Yorkshire, and quite a number of people were hoping to relocate to York from London. There were also applications from Spain and Italy.
She said she looking to take on only people with experience of the industry.
General manager Andrew Coney said the hotel was fortunate to have the pick of the region’s very best hospitality staff, but admitted that certain niche positions were proving harder to fill.
“For example, the head concierge, who must be able to combine exceptional communication skills with an encyclopaedic knowledge of York and the region,” he said.
“We’re also very interested in talking to experienced meetings and conference co-ordinators, sommeliers and butlers.”
Cedar Court Hotels, Yorkshire’s largest independent hotel group, is investing £20 million in The Grand, which is being created out of a former railway headquarters building in Station Rise, and says it intends to set new standards of luxury and service in York.
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