STUDENTS will take over a hotel next week as they demonstrate their skills to the paying public and potential employers.

A group of business, catering, and hospitality students from North Herts College (NHC) will begin the initiative by “shadowing” staff members at Letchworth GC’s The Broadway Hotel next Wednesday (January 26), before they take on complete responsibility for the following 24 hours.

Tasks that will be undertaken by the students will range from making beds to front of house management, and include staffing the lunch buffet and carvery, handling all normal daily hotel trade, as well as taking care of an evening Rotary Club function.

Employers in the local and regional community served by NHC have been invited to witness first hand what their students are capable of, providing an opportunity for guests to forge partnerships with the college, with the aim of matching the skills students have to those that employers need.

Next Thursday’s event begins at 4pm and will be hosted by NHC principal and chief executive Fintan Donohue, who champions collaboration between business and college to enhance students’ practical learning experiences.

Recently, in The Times Educational Supplement, Mr Donohue said: “We need to produce students who can enter the workplace with confidence and with the skills to start their own business or to add value to existing business.”