The winners of the prestigious annual Hospitality Finance, Revenue Management and IT Awards of the Year 2014 have been announced by HOSPA – the UK’s leading educational organisation for professionals involved in Financial Management, Revenue Management and IT within the hospitality industry.
At the 2014 HOSPA Annual Christmas Awards Luncheon – held in the capital at The Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square – the winners of the major HOSPA ‘Hospitality Professionals Awards’ and HOSPA ‘Company Commitment to Professional Development Awards’; and the ‘HOSPA Student Awards’, were honoured.
In addition, a special ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ – an engraved crystal trophy – was presented to former HOSPA Chairman (2008-2014) Paul Dukes, who became only the fifth ever recipient of the award, in recognition of his outstanding service to the Association at perhaps the most momentous time in its history, since its inception in 1969 as the British Association of Hotel Accountants (BAHA).
Amongst his many achievements as HOSPA Chairman, Paul Dukes oversaw – with HOSPA Chief Executive Carl Weldon – the highly successful evolution, rebranding and development of the former British Association of Hospitality Accountants (BAHA) into HOSPA, and the creation of its three communities for Hospitality Finance, Revenue Management and IT.
Commenting on Paul Duke’s award, Carl Weldon said: “To quote a previous Chairman of the Association, ‘what Paul has achieved whilst at HOSPA, is a result for any Chairman’! Under Paul’s guidance, we have seen HOSPA membership grow by 50 per cent; record attendances at each of our annual Conferences and Exhibitions (successfully rebranded in 2011 as HOSPACE); the development of a Corporate Membership Scheme containing over 20 per cent of our current membership; a brand new HOSPA Revenue Management qualification; the strengthening of HOSPA’s strategic partnerships – notably with HFTP (Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals) and HITEC; the redesign and rebranding of our former monthly BAHA Journal, with the new title of ‘The Overview’; new upgraded state-of-the-art websites for HOSPA and HOSPACE, including the introduction of the HOSPA Blog and HOSPA Voice; and the significant growth of our social media presence – we now have, for example, over 10,000 followers on Twitter; and over 4,500 on our LinkedIn group.
“The list speaks for itself and thanks to Paul’s term as Chairman, our financial status and industry influence has never been higher. He has left an invaluable legacy – a strong and highly successful foundation from which we can grow and prosper.
“In short, we are greatly indebted to Paul for all he’s done for HOSPA and wish him continued speedy recovery from the serious illness that he suffered earlier this year.”
The 2014 HOSPA Winners – all recipients of engraved crystal trophies and certificates – were:
1. HOSPA Hospitality Professionals Award Winners 2014:
“¢ Hospitality Finance Professional 2014, sponsored by BDO, was awarded to Darran Cottington, Financial Controller at Brown’s Hotel, London
“¢ Hospitality Revenue Management Professional 2014, sponsored by IDeaS, was presented to Shauna Campbell, Director of Revenue Management at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) for UK and Ireland
“¢ Hospitality IT Professional 2014, sponsored by FourteenIP/HP, was won by Emmanuel Clave, Group IT Director at Rocco Forte Hotels
2. Recipient of the ‘HOSPA Company Commitment to Professional Development Award 2014’, in recognition of outstanding commitment in promoting and developing financial and revenue management education in the hospitality industry: Jumeirah Group
3. HOSPA ‘Overall Student of the Year’ Award Winners 2014 for the Association’s Education and Training Programmes (ETP) in Financial Management, and Revenue Management:
“¢ ‘HOSPA Outstanding Student of the Year in Financial Management 2014’ – based on HOSPA Education and Training Programme (ETP) combined course work and examination results 2014 recorded in the Finance Education programmes – was presented to Margita Alsina, Accounts Assistant at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow, who achieved the highest result overall. She received a crystal trophy and a Kindle 7inch Fire HDX Wifi. Margita also won a cash prize and certificate for best performance in the September 2014 HOSPA ETP examinations in Financial Management for Stage 2: Operational Management Accounting.
“¢ ‘HOSPA Outstanding Student of the Year in Revenue Management 2014’ – based on HOSPA Education and Training Programme (ETP) combined course work and examination results 2014 recorded in the Revenue Management Education programmes – was won by Sharon Murphy, Revenue Manager, The Malton Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry, Eire, who achieved the highest result overall. Her prize is a crystal trophy and a Kindle 7inch Fire HDX Wifi. Sharon also won a cash prize and certificate for best performance in the March 2014 HOSPA ETP examinations in Revenue Management for Stage 2: Operational Revenue Management.
4. HOSPA 2014 Student Award Winners:
Cash prizes and certificates were then given to the top HOSPA ETP students, based on their results in each of the HOSPA examination categories for the Financial Management and Revenue Management training programmes, completed in both March 2014 and September 2014.
The March 2014 HOSPA Financial Management Education Programme examination prize winners were:
“¢ Stage 1 – Introduction to Financial Accounting: Meriel Johns, Cluster Purchasing Clerk, Jurys Inn, Brighton
“¢ Stage 2 – Operational Management Accounting: Thomas Fink, Assistant Financial Controller, Rocco Forte The Charles Hotel, Munich
“¢ Stage 3 – Strategic Management Accounting: Chinthaka Periyapperuma, Assistant Finance Manager, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
The September 2014 HOSPA Financial Management Education Programme examination prize winners were:
“¢ Stage 1 – Introduction to Financial Accounting: Keri David Jervis, Assistant Financial Controller, Village Urban Resorts, Cardiff
“¢ Stage 2 – Operational Management Accounting: Margita Alsina, Accounts Assistant, Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow
“¢ Stage 3 – Strategic Management Accounting: Mahela Vidanapatirana, Assistant Financial Controller, The Royal York Hotel, York
The March 2014 HOSPA Revenue Management Education Programme examination prize winners were:
“¢ Stage 1: Introduction to Revenue Management: David Bell, General Manager, Kirkconnel Group
“¢ Stage 2: Operational Revenue Management: Sharon Murphy, Revenue Manager, The Malton Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry, Eire
“¢ Stage 3: Strategic Revenue Management: Jayne Nicolson, Group Revenue Manager, Portland Hotel Management
The September 2014 HOSPA Revenue Management Education Programme examination prize winners were:
“¢ Stage1: Introduction to Revenue Management: Sally Cory, Senior Revenue and Pricing Analyst, De Vere Venues, Staverton Park, Daventry, Northamptonshire
“¢ Stage 2: Operational Revenue Management: Michael Crossan, Lecturer in Hospitality and Tourism, Institute of Technology, Tralee
“¢ Stage 3: Strategic Revenue Management: Tessa Rowbottom, Cluster Revenue Manager, Hilton Worldwide
The HOSPA Education and Training Programme (ETP) in Financial Management is the entry route to Associate membership of HOSPA for new and inexperienced finance personnel in the industry. The programme provides learning and skills development for aspiring hospitality accounting professionals wishing to gain the skills and knowledge required to manage hospitality finance divisions, or gain an understanding of the accounting function of a hospitality unit. The ‘three-stage’ blended learning programme, studied over three 6-month periods, provides the flexibility for accounts personnel to fit their learning around their busy working day.
In 2011, HOSPA introduced a hospitality focused ETP in Revenue Management – a natural follow-on from the popular Financial Management ETP, run by the Association for over 23 years. 2014, therefore, is only the third year the Student Revenue Management ETP awards have been made.
