Industry Experience at Crieff Hydro - Shirley Simpson
The global pandemic highlighted the vital role of the Hospitality and Food Studies sector, with businesses increasingly seeking skilled staff to support their operations. As one of Scotland’s largest industries, hospitality offers a wide range of rewarding career opportunities. At UHI Perth, we recognise the importance of preparing our students to be work-ready. To achieve this, we maintain strong partnerships with employers across the hospitality sector, ensuring our training aligns with industry needs.
Over the last year, we have developed strong links with Crieff Hydro - Scotland's leading Spa Hotel and Resort based in Perthshire. Georgia Robertson (Talent Attraction Executive) and Holly Nicol-Baird (Food and Beverage Training Manager) attended our ‘Brunch and Build Employers’ event back in April, before Georgia returned to our well attended Careers Fair in May. We then welcomed Gavin Edwards (Head of People) in June to speak to our new hospitality and professional cookery student groups at their pre-induction about the different and exciting opportunities at Crieff Hydro and in the wider hospitality industry.
Through these strengthening relationships, Shirley Simpson (UHI Perth Hospitality and Food Studies Subject Leader and Lecturer) arranged some industry experience in the summer break, which provided a fantastic insight into the very busy hotel at a peak time for the business. She told us about her experience 👇
🗣️ It is very important to me to continue to stay connected with our fast paced, diverse and evolving industry and we are so fortunate to have so many successful and thriving hospitality businesses on our doorstep. I was interested to see the recently refurbished restaurants and Ballroom bar at Crieff Hydro, so it was a perfect opportunity to go in for some hands-on experience, kindly arranged by Georgia.
Both Daniel (Venue Manager) and Holly (Food and Beverage Training Manager) were so generous with their time in showing me round the various restaurants, the back of house areas, kitchens, the beautiful Ballroom Bar and giving me a real insight into the operational side of the business.
Holly allowed me to attend the daily managers meeting with her which gave me a snapshot of just how busy the hotel is every single day but also how all the teams within the hotel work together in meeting their guests’ needs and surpassing expectations.
The front of house team in the Winter Garden Restaurant and Ballroom Bar were very welcoming and guided me on how the restaurant is run. They all worked well together, and it was clear there was a positive working environment in the vibrant bright space, creating a real buzz in the whole department.
I loved being back in industry and working alongside other hospitality professionals within the team at Crieff Hydro. Ensuring each guest experiences customer service excellence every day was clearly the focus throughout the hotel, and it was rewarding to see this in action. It was such a valuable experience to see first-hand current practices which is so useful to take forward into the new academic year with our new student cohorts. We look forward to working alongside Crieff Hydro in the coming year and further developing our partnership. Special thanks to Georgia for having me and providing such a fantastic learning opportunity.
Georgia Robertson, Crieff Hydro Talent Attraction Executive, commented:
"Creating meaningful industry experiences for students is a key part of what we aim to do at Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels. Welcoming Shirley into our team recently allowed us to share not just what we do day to day, but also to help shape awareness of the many exciting career paths in hospitality. We’re proud to work closely with local education partners and look forward to building even more valuable connections in the year ahead.”
Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels has developed a growing relationship with UHI Perth through guest talks, on-campus visits, and hosting students on meaningful work experience across its hotel teams. These placements give students a real insight into the fast-paced, people-focused world of hospitality, and help develop their confidence, communication, and teamwork skills in a live working environment. If you would like to find out more about the Hospitality and Food Studies courses on offer at UHI Perth, visit here.
