Saira Hospitality

And just like that, the St Giles Hotels x Saira Hospitality Academy has come to an end. The academy was created to develop hospitality-focused life skills for 20 local community members surrounding St Giles Hotel in Bloomsbury, 50% of whom had recently experienced homelessness. The past four weeks have been nothing short of magical, from the unwavering commitment of each and every learner, to the compassion of the entire St Giles Hotels and Hotels with Heart Foundation teams, who sponsored the Academy. There's never been a more important time to take united action against the social issues that face our city, and we hope the vision of St Giles Hotels will inspire more businesses to create opportunities for those who need and deserve them.

Last week our Chief Operating Officer Greg Früchtenicht spoke with Josiah Mackenzie of Hospitality Daily about our latest project in London. With new figures highlighting a 965% increase in people sleeping rough after leaving asylum accommodation, supporting this demographic has never been so important, and we're grateful to partner with an organisation like St Giles Hotels, and their revolutionary "Hotels with Heart" philanthropic arm to make a lasting impact. We believe that more can be done to support overlooked communities into new careers, and the St Giles Hotels x Saira Hospitality Academy is a model we're excited to roll out in the coming years. Tap the link below to learn more about our partnership.

A key step in learning to deliver first-class service is to experience it for yourself. We couldn’t think of a better way to immerse our learners in the world of service than by inviting them to experience Dishoom’s legendary breakfast. Hosted by the wonderful Nicky Smith, London Chatter Walli - or local Marketing Manager - our learners were absorbed by her own hospitality journey and left feeling ready to emulate the renowned service that the Dishoom team delivered. Thank you to the entire Dishoom Carnaby Team for hosting and inspiring our learners

As important as classroom learning is, we love nothing more than giving our learners face time with local hospitality legends in London. These experiences are at the very core of the Saira Hospitality x St Giles Hotels Hospitality Academy. No-one embodies the hospitality gene better than Peter Avis FIH, named as the first Institute of Hospitality Restaurant Management of the Year in 2009, Peter’s experience speaks for itself, but his hospitality story is what particularly enthralled our learners. Peter’s tenacity and drive has inspired countless Saira Learners in the past, and we can’t wait for our next visit to Galvin at Windows to inspire future cohorts.

We wrapped up our first week of learning at the Saira Hospitality x St Giles Hotels Hospitality Academy with a tour of London Hospitality venues. Learners met with leading figures in hospitality and discovered what London’s thriving hospitality scene has to offer. Our hosts: Dishoom London Hilton On Park Lane Galvin at Windows The BoTree Brown's Hotel, a Rocco Forte Hotel The Athenaeum Hotel and Residences Mercato Metropolitano A huge thank you to all our venue partners and their incredible teams that opened their doors and opened our learner’s eyes... Peter Avis FIH Nicky Smith Andi Fletcher Ben Bateman Leonard Bianu Maggie Flora Jasmine Awad Matteo Giannuzzi Rosalba Tito Daniella Turnbull Thomas Finn Alana Buchanan Eliana Athanasiou Abigail Tan Andrew Elliott Sarah Kenny Greg Früchtenicht

Today marked the first day of our newest partnership with St Giles Hotels and their philanthropic arm; Hotels with Heart. Bound by the belief that more can be done to support overlooked communities into meaningful hospitality careers, our Academy will train 20 local candidates inside St Giles Hotel in Bloomsbury over the next four weeks. Hotels with Heart, which was launched in 2023 to give back to the local communities sustaining St Giles Hotels, is central to the partnership. Hotels With Heart are sponsoring the end-to-end programme, which blends our life-skills focused curriculum with immersive hospitality experiences across London inside our trusted partners including Z Hotels, Soho House & Co, Accor, Town Hall Hotel and many more. We can't wait to see this partnership unfold and share the journey along the way...

It was an absolute honour to be invited as one of 12 speakers at The Conduit Refugee Summit. The Conduit team selected the speakers after reviewing hundreds of ideas and pilot projects from international organisations, NGOs, and entrepreneurs, all hoping to aid the settlement and integration of refugees. Surrounded by inspiring organisations who are supporting refugees with everything from Access to Finance, Housing and Education, our Programme Director Alana Buchanan shared Saira Hospitality's contribution to training and employment via our London schools. Thank-you to The Conduit team for a wonderful event as always

By nature of what what we do, we have the honour of working with so many dedicated, passionate individuals who believe in challenging the status quo. Those two characteristics - dedication and passion - are embodied wholly by our partners at the LeBron James Family Foundation and Graduate Hotels. Over the course of eight weeks, we combined our expertise to deliver what was one of our most impactful programmes to date during the launch of the revolutionary House Three Thirty. Watch the video below to learn more...

Heading to The Summit? We're exited to announce that our CEO and COO will be hosting a series of Discovery Sessions at Forbes Travel Guide's invitation-only global hospitality gathering in Las Vegas on 27th and 28th February Aimed at helping hoteliers connect more deeply with prospective talent, each session promises to offer memorable takeaways that will transform your talent search. If you're on your way to The Summit, we can't wait to see you there. Harsha L'Acqua Greg Früchtenicht #FTGSummit #forbestravelguide

We're honored to be invited to speak at the UN next week! If you're in NYC, let us know if you want to come support.