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Pride, partnership and inspiration sum up One Year On Event

15 Jun 2011

There was a palpable buzz of pride and excitement last night as 200 guests attended a special event to mark the first anniversary of the already successful Glasgow Service with Style initiative.
Business leaders, city partners and tourism and hospitality staff gathered at the Scottish Youth Theatre in the Merchant City where they heard of the impressive results of the Glasgow Tourism Service Initiative project that aims to increase service standards across the city’s tourism industry.
The evening also offered the opportunity to hear from several key speakers, including the fantastically inspiring former general manager of Glasgow’s Copthorne Hotel, Amanda Hyndman.
Now General Manager at the prestigious Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington D.C, Amanda made a special return visit to the city to reveal to guests her own experience and insights into the fast-expanding world of hospitality.
Many people in the packed auditorium were visibly moved by her motivational talk and took on board her personal passion for delivering a service in hospitality that is second to no others.
Afterwards, Angus Porter, assistant restaurant manager of Radisson Blu Hotel, found the evening “incredibly motivating”. He said: “It’s always good to hear a fresh perspective and innovative new ways to improve the tourism experience. Amanda’s talk was superb and very inspirational. I will be taking all that I heard back to the workplace and talking about it until I’m blue in the face.”
Gemma Laidlaw, of The National Piping Centre, based in Glasgow, said: “It was brilliant to hear such an inspirational talk from Amanda Hyndman. In particular it was her point about listening to customers and learning form their feedback that hit home with me. We already do this but I will be encouraging my staff to do this even more in future.” 
For Robin Worsnop, managing director and founder of award-winning Rabbie’s Trail Burners, it was Amanda’s commitment to working in partnership with the community to help and assist a pool of dedicated staff that impressed him. He said: “I do a lot of work in the community and it was good to hear from such a respected speak of the value that this brings to local businesses. I place a huge amount of value on the community partnership and this evening has reinforced my commitment.”
(We will be bringing you a future news item that brings together some of Amanda’s wealth of knowledge and expertise on tourism service excellence.)
The evening was hosted by BBC radio presenter Janice Forsyth, herself a passionate supporter of Scotland’s tourism industry. Regaling the audience about her teenage days working as a waitress in Glasgow, Janice also found the evening inspirational. She said: “It is fantastic to see so many people so enthusiastic about Glasgow and the tourism experience. It comes from the heart of so many people, which is hugely encouraging.”
On the night it was the welcomed job of Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, and Jill Farrell of Scottish Enterprise to announce the latest achievements of Glasgow’s Service with Style project.
The results included the delivery of more than 70 training programmes and events, the engagement of 346 businesses across the city and 1565 individuals completing the high quality training in a city-wide programme that is stimulating the city’s workforce. 
The initiative is targeting all sectors of the hospitality and tourism industry, and has achieved significant engagement from hotels and restaurants, visitor attractions, retail, arts venues, and leisure facilities.  
Opportunities through Glasgow Service with Style have seen uptake from those responsible for service from senior management teams to kitchen porters, to ensure Glasgow presents world class service and leaves a lasting impression upon the city’s visitors. 
In its first year, Glasgow Service with Style has been designated an Official Legacy Project for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with 10,000 people across the city committed to the newly developed Glasgow Welcomes customer service training programme.  
Indeed, many of the guests at the special evening revealed that they have experienced first hand the benefits of the wealth of workshops, masterclasses and services offered by the GSWS project.
As Victor Brierley, of Glasgow Whisky Tours, said: “The fact that more than 200 people have come here this evening to mark the anniversary of the Glasgow Service with Style project is pure testimony to its success and inspiration.”
But it was the upbeat atmosphere during the event, which also offered the chance to network among business colleagues, which so clearly reveals the collective sense of pride and collaboration of a successful Glasgow tourism and hospitality industry.
As Riddell Graham, Director of Partnerships at VisitScotland, said: “I came along to this evening with a certain expectation and it has been more than met. What always strikes me about Glasgow is that it is such a joined up city. Everyone, across the industry, works together. From the council leader to the taxi driver there is a true sense of partnership and this is such an uplifting experience – and one that is to be hailed.”
Summing up the evening in just a few words was Tommy Butler, of Glasgow.com, who said: “It’s simply superb.” And for Liz Hoskin, of Positive Qualities, it was “Fab.” She added: “Really, in choosing only one word to sum up this event and the past year of GSWS, it has to be ‘fab’.”

There was a palpable buzz of pride and excitement last night as 200 guests attended a special event to mark the first anniversary of the already successful Glasgow Service with Style initiative.

Business leaders, city partners and tourism and hospitality staff gathered at the Scottish Youth Theatre in the Merchant City for the One Year On event where they heard of the impressive results of the Glasgow Tourism Service Initiative project that aims to increase service standards across the city’s tourism industry.

The One Year On evening also offered the opportunity to hear from several key speakers, including the fantastically inspiring former General Manager of Glasgow’s Copthorne Hotel, Amanda Hyndman.

Now General Manager at the prestigious Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington DC, Amanda made a special return visit to the city to reveal to guests her own experience and insights into the fast-expanding world of hospitality.

Many people in the packed auditorium were visibly moved by her motivational talk and took on board her personal passion for delivering a service in hospitality that is second to no others.

Afterwards, Angus Porter, assistant restaurant manager of Radisson Blu Hotel, found the evening “incredibly motivating”. He said: “It’s always good to hear a fresh perspective and innovative new ways to improve the tourism experience. Amanda’s talk was superb and very inspirational. I will be taking all that I heard back to the workplace and talking about it until I’m blue in the face.”

Gemma Laidlaw, of The National Piping Centre, based in Glasgow, said: “It was brilliant to hear such an inspirational talk from Amanda Hyndman. In particular it was her point about listening to customers and learning from their feedback that hit home with me. We already do this but I will be encouraging my staff to do this even more in future.” 

For Robin Worsnop, Managing Director and founder of award-winning Rabbie’s Trail Burners, it was Amanda’s commitment to working in partnership with the community by supporting a pool of dedicated staff that impressed him. He said: “I do a lot of work in the community and it was good to hear from such a respected speaker of the value that this brings to local businesses. I place a huge amount of value on the community partnership and this evening has reinforced my commitment.”

(We will be bringing you a future news item that brings together some of Amanda’s wealth of knowledge and expertise on tourism service excellence.)

The evening was hosted by BBC TV & radio presenter Janice Forsyth, herself a passionate supporter of Scotland’s tourism industry. Regaling the audience about her teenage days working as a waitress in Glasgow, Janice also found the evening inspirational. She said: “It is fantastic to see so many people so enthusiastic about Glasgow and the tourism experience. It comes from the heart of so many people, which is hugely encouraging.”

On the night it was the welcomed job of Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, and Jill Farrell of Scottish Enterprise to announce the latest achievements of Glasgow’s Service with Style project.

The results included the delivery of more than 70 training programmes and events, the engagement of 346 businesses across the city, and 1565 individuals completing the high quality training in a city-wide programme that is mobilising the city’s workforce. 

The initiative is targeting all sectors of the hospitality and tourism industry, and has achieved significant engagement from hotels and restaurants, visitor attractions, retail, arts venues, and leisure facilities.  

Opportunities through Glasgow Service with Style have seen uptake from those responsible for service from senior management teams to kitchen porters, to ensure Glasgow presents world class service and leaves a lasting impression upon the city’s visitors. 

In its first year, Glasgow Service with Style has been designated an Official Legacy Project for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with 10,000 people across the city committed to the newly developed Glasgow Welcomes customer service training programme.  

Indeed, many of the guests at the special evening revealed that they have experienced first hand the benefits of the wealth of workshops, masterclasses and services offered by the GSWS project.

As Victor Brierley, of Glasgow Whisky Tours, said: “The fact that more than 200 people have come here this evening to mark the anniversary of the Glasgow Service with Style project is pure testimony to its success and inspiration.”

But it was the upbeat atmosphere during the event, which also offered the chance to network amongst business colleagues, which so clearly reveals the collective sense of pride and collaboration of a successful Glasgow tourism and hospitality industry.

As Riddell Graham, Director of Partnerships at VisitScotland, said: “I came along to this evening with a certain expectation and it has been more than met. What always strikes me about Glasgow is that it is such a joined up city. Everyone, across the industry, works together. From the council leader to the taxi driver there is a true sense of partnership and this is such an uplifting experience – and one that is to be hailed.”

Summing up the evening in just a few words was Tommy Butler, of Glasgow.com, who said: “It’s simply superb.” And for Liz Hoskin, of Positive Qualities, it was “fab”. She added: “Really, in choosing only one word to sum up this event and the past year of GSWS, it has to be ‘fab’.”