Laura Girvan

Overall responsibility of managing the learning resource centres at the Bispham and Fleetwood campuses, providing an innovative, customer-centred service to both students and staff. Managing a team of 10 to achieve the college learning resources strategy.

Duties include:

• Provide front line HR responsibilities, to include staff development, timetabling, maintaining morale and delivering HR policies and procedures.
  
• Promoting the services of the Centre to students and staff using a range of media and activities.
• Analyse and interpret data
  to identify ways to improve the service.
• Answering queries and requests for information received both in person and electronically and to support the team in doing so.
• Arranging and promoting student enhancement activities within the Learning Resource Centre and around the campus.
• To maintain a range of purposeful, tidy and welcoming working environments for students within the Resource Centre maintaining acceptable levels of behaviour.
• Working with the team to design and run an induction and user education programme that suits the needs of students on the Bispham Campus.
• Organising the purchase and management of stock so that it suits the needs of students on the Bispham Campus monitoring budget spend, taking responsibility for the Curriculum Area of Engineering.
• To obtain feedback from the students and assess how they feel about the Centre’s services and use this knowledge to develop the provision producing statistical reports as necessary.
• To deliver staff development sessions on learning resource technology, including how to use the library catalogue, Moodle, online resources and many more and offer support on these to academic staff.
• Supporting academic staff with the development of digital resources.
• Delivering academic and digital literacy sessions on a range of subjects to Higher Education students.

Overall responsibity for the day to day hotel operations in an 81-bedroom hotel.  Ensuring every aspect of the guests' brilliant experience is achieved by providing training, motivating and leading the team. I Successfully supported the team through a management change and refurbsihment programme. I improved KPI's and increased performance during my 6 months at this site.

Leading a team of 22, including head housekeeper, reception team leader, maintenance and all other team members within the site.

• Supporting the team through a period of change, to include a change in management and team leaders, new branded restaurant and hotel refurbishment.
• To improve the guest satisfaction scores following a period of poor performance.
• Recruit and select new team members and provide training
• To increase morale and improve team performance following poor management.
• Working in partnership with the adjacent restaurant.
• Labour Control
• Team retention and engagement
• Ensuring profitable growth 
• Ensuring brand standards and procedures are in place
• Upskilling  the team by working with the wider area of 16 Premier Inn's to be the WISE (Whitbread Investing In skills and education) champion, achieving our work experience targets, supporting current apprenticeship learners to achieve their qualification by offering group and one to one support, mentoring other managers to support their apprenticeship learners, and liaising with schools, colleges, and job local job centres to attend career fairs. 

Overall responsibility for every aspect of managing the day to day hotel operations at Preston South Craven Drive Premier Inn, a busy 75-bedroom hotel, including a 48-cover breakfast room. Leading a team of 28, including head housekeeper, reception team leader, breakfast team leader, maintenance and all other team members within the site.

• Training, supporting and leading the team to achieve all company brand standards to ensure we was providing a world class experience.
• Recruitment and selection of team members for a variety of roles within the hotels.
• Labour control for all departments, to include reception, housekeeping and the kitchen.
• Performance and Development Management (Reviews, potential, setting objectives, feedback)
• Reviewing guest feedback and working with departmental leaders and the team to improve standards.
• Effective controls of budgets, ensuring profitable growth.
• Ensuring all financial procedures are in place and all team have had the required training.
• Responsible for ensuring all health and safety standards are in place and all team have had the required training.
• Revenue Management.
• Working with local companies and key accounts.
• Responsible for training and implementing all business changes
• Working with roles at all levels to ensure all business needs are met
• Dual-site management
• People Management (Code of conduct, grievances and investigations)

• Increased guest satisfaction scores by reviewing and implementing new processes and improving standards.
• Moved from position 12 to number 1 on TripAdvisor, maintaining that position during my time in role.
• Won the Lancashire Tourism Award for customer service in 14/15, an award that is not usually given to a budget hotel chain.
• Successfully improved targets, by consistently delivering on all KPI's and achieving an all green win-card in 15/16.
• Developing and mentoring several team members into higher positions, including head housekeeper, deputy operations manager and operation manager.
• Increasing team morale and having a very low team turnover through team engagement.
• Provided training workshops on the hotel reservation system (BART) to new recruits for our new opening hotels nationally, delivering the training at our training centre in Manchester.
• Supported the WISE team to support managers and learners through the apprenticeship programme both one to one and in workshops. Recruiting a cohort of level 2 apprentices across 8 hotels.
• Worked with local schools, colleges and the job centre with careers fairs, work placements and work experience initiatives.
• Consistently passing company audits to a high standard, to include brand standards, financial control, health and safety and food safety controls.
• Multi site management - ensuring performance standards and processes were consistently achieved across two sites. Helping me to develop my leadership skills, ensuring I managed my time effectively to deliver the required standards across both sites.
• I feel I have a proven track record within my company for supporting and developing others and ensuring that all team members have the best working conditions to ensure they work to the best of their ability.

Responsible for the housekeeping and reception departments in a 65-bedroom hotel, with a meeting room and adjacent restaurant. Ensuring that the day to day hotel operations were being met in regards to policies, procedures, standards and front line HR responsibilities.

• Leading a team of 20, including the head housekeeper, lead receptionist and maintenance team.
• Supporting departmental leaders with the support, training and guidance needed to deliver their roles
• Reviewing guest feedback and working with departmental leaders and the team to improve standards.
• Working with the restaurant management team to ensure the hotel and restaurant are providing the best possible service to our guests.
• Ensuring all financial procedures are in place and all team have had the required training.
• Responsible for ensuring all health and safety standards are in place and all team have had the required training.
• Working within a cluster and providing support to other hotel managers.
• Revenue Management.
• Working with local companies and key accounts.
• Charity work.
• Adding value to the business through events, to include charity events, Halloween parties working with the local fire station, social events and many more.
• Delivered workshops for new site openings on Reception systems.
• Supporting several team members through level 2 apprenticeships for kitchen, front of house, reception and housekeeping.
• Obtained a wedding licence for the function room.
• Taking meeting and function room bookings for 3 separate rooms.
• Reception administration duties.
• Housekeeping duties.

Responsible for the day to day running of a hotel housekeeping department and leading a team of 12 to deliver the required standards as set out by the brand, supporting with their training and development. Ensuring standards are achieved and passing the company brand standards audit.