HTS benefit from UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme

21/05/2021

Hotel and Travel Solutions (HTS), as with many other agencies, has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic with business levels dropping by up to 80%. Although continuing to support clients’ key workers by sourcing places to stay for business, HTS had to scale back their business and as a direct impact of the pandemic, lost over 50% of their employees.

Last month, HTS Managing Director Julie Shorrock, spoke with Martin Fullard at Conference News to share how they were taking advantage of the Government’s Kickstart Scheme to aid business recovery. The timeframe to recruit and train new employees can be costly, but the Kickstart Scheme will enable HTS to offer valuable employment now. And that’s just what they’ve done.

Working in collaboration with local job centres to the Bromsgrove area, HTS has successfully employed two recruits who have already begun their induction training with the aim of becoming fully-fledged Reservation Agents in the next couple of months.

Chantz Nevers and Molly Knight have both joined the business from the retail sector and are enthusiastic to adapt their customer service skills to the business travel and events industry.

Amy Bewley, Account Manager and Implementation Director at HTS commented on the recruitment process: “The pandemic has affected so many individuals, who for no fault of their own have found themselves unemployed. The Kickstart scheme is a fantastic initiative, allowing us to bring new people into the industry who are keen to learn.

“You have to put in what you want to get out of the scheme, but it’s well worth it. As you don’t recruit or advertise for these positions in traditional ways, they are via the DWP, I spent time educating local job centres on us a business, our values, and the ideal candidate for us. This process meant we were receiving quality applications that we could confidently put people through to the interview stage.  

“I’m delighted to be welcoming both Chantz and Molly to the team. They both demonstrated how they could effectively transfer their skills from the retail sector to benefit our industry.”

Julie Shorrock, HTS Managing Director encourages other businesses to take advantage of the Kickstart scheme; “We’ve already seen enquiries increase as lockdown measures ease so it’s important to get people in place now. The Kickstart scheme is a fantastic way to train people effectively at no, or little, additional cost to the business. This is our time to come back stronger.”