Since WorkFit was launched, positions in hospitality such as hotels have been a very popular career choice for our candidates. We have successfully placed people with larger chains such as Premier Inn and Travel Lodge and independents such as The Marine Hotel.
We are delighted to have expanded our work with Holiday Inn Express by making our first placement with them in the North East of England. Nicky has secured a paid, permanent position at Holiday Inn Express, Newcastle as a Breakfast Assistant, with duties including cleaning tables, re-stocking breakfast items and helping customers.
Nicky’s placement is the third we have made with Holiday Inn Express, following successful placements in the North West of England. Staff members were inspired to take on a candidate by their colleagues in Manchester, who had a successful experience and gained skills that benefited their wider careers.
Before Nicky started seven of his future colleagues received a free session of Down’s syndrome awareness training. This was carried out at the hotel and covered a range of useful areas such as support strategies, information about the condition and useful tips and advice about how to support Nicky to do well. The team found this extremely useful, with feedback such as “very clear and allowed me to understand how to treat a person with DS” and “very informative”. In addition, all seven staff would recommend WorkFit to other employers.
Nicky told us “I really enjoy my job and I like everything. I like to be busy and I like helping customers”.
Holiday Inn Express are delighted by their experience of working with WorkFit. One of Nicky’s managers, Les told us that Nicky is “a dream to work with, all staff love him. No problems at all. He’s now doing some work with the maintenance team to expand his skills and abilities and we are delighted to have him as part of our team.”
Nicky has previously completed work experience placements at Costa Coffee and Premier Inn and so securing this permanent paid job shows his successful career progression. Nicky has been a huge hit with customers. One person who had stayed at the hotel commented that he was “delightful, polite and helpful”. Another told him he had done a great job clearing tables and left him a tip. He has even been mentioned in a review on Trip Advisor and is making a positive impact with everyone he comes into contact with. This shows the ability of our candidates to thrive in busy, customer facing environments and make a valuable contribution.
We are pleased to expand opportunities within the hospitality sector and Nicky’s story shows the ability of WorkFit candidates to make a positive contribution in a customer facing hospitality role. We hope others will be inspired by Holiday Inn Express and always welcome new employer registrations. Please call 0333 12 12 300 for a no obligation discussion on employing a person with Down’s syndrome.
WorkFit supports people with Down’s syndrome to access meaningful work opportunities that can benefit the rest of their lives. For more information about WorkFit please contact the team on on dsworkfit@downs-syndrome.org.uk
WorkFit North is possible due to the Big Lottery Fund.
For more information visit the WorkFit website: www.dsworkfit.org.uk
