A lifelong commitment to hospitality has led the managing director of a Northumberland hotel to become the only member of the prestigious national society of Master Innholders in the North East.
Bernard Bloodworth, Managing Director of the award winning Matfen Hall, Golf and Spa, was accepted into the Master Innholders after being publicly recognised as a standard bearer for the hotel industry.
The Master Innholders aims to influence standards and extend professionalism by promoting discussion and research into areas affecting hotel management. This includes management development, training, education and recruitment.
Becoming a member of this select group is a difficult process as applicants must submit an essay on a given subject and attend a rigorous interview to demonstrate their commitment to improving standards within the industry.
Bernard has 33 years’ experience within the hotel industry. He has also been a key member of the North East Hotel Association (NEHA) for the last 15 years and has represented the hotel sector in various business forums across the North East including North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) and Visit County Durham.
Becoming a Master Innholder means that Bernard is looking forward to bringing the benefits of his membership to the hotel industry in the North East. This includes providing better access to national and international training and development for hotel employees. The Master Innholder scholarships were developed to help rising stars access management training opportunities which are few and far between. They are awarded annually, and successful candidates are granted places on a two-week management development course at Cranfield University, Cornell University (USA) or the École Hôtelière de Lausanne (Switzerland).
