New mayo company offers western hospitality solutions

THE hotel and catering industry has always been at the forefront of the tourism sector in the west of Ireland. While the industry has suffered some lows in the past number of years with the economic downturn, hotels and restaurants know all too well that the challenges don’t end there, with problems in staffing, ever changing food legislation and decreasing margins some of the obstacles faced on a weekly basis.

Last year signs of recovery began to emerge and enticements like the Great Western Greenway and Wild Atlantic Way are seeing tourist numbers up. There is now a deeper demand on hospitality establishments to deliver quality products and services.

Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of a brand new Mayo based company - Hospitality West.

The exciting new set up contains a number of qualified industry professionals, from service trainers to cocktail makers, delivering assistance through a number of facets including food safety, recruitment and staff training. The business is led by Mark Quinn who has worked extensively in the industry both here and abroad for over 15 years and holds a number of qualifications in this area.

The former head chef noticed the need for better work-based solutions and developed an industry specific company to help businesses address the problems that are common to the hotel and catering industry.

Mark explained the concept: “A lot of the establishments I had worked in seemed to have the same difficulties in common, as does the industry as a whole. One of the biggest ones is in the area of recruitment and finding good staff. There’s also a number of food and beverage establishments who need training in different areas to keep up to date with legislation or just to stay competitive and I decided that if we could bring together a number of trainers with a range of specialties we could offer just that.”

The company offers a range of consultancy options to new and existing establishments, including cafes, restaurants, hotels and bars.

Mark believes the industry is picking up and the west should become Irish leaders in hospitality.

He said: “The west of Ireland does and should continue to maintain the best that the industry has to offer. We can help business owners and managers deliver a quality service. We need to work together to make the west a great place to eat and drink, not only for tourists but for people living here too.”

So how does it all work? “Most of our work is done on- site with training, auditing or consultancy, but our recruitment section can be done over the phone,” he said.
Hospitality West is also offering free advertising on their jobs page for the months of January and February.

For more details about the company and its services, see  www.hospitalitywest.ie or phone Mark on (085) 8136835.