Person of the Week

Sir Anthony Joliffe, GBE, DL

Speaking at the Gala Dinner for the Master of Culinary Arts Awards 2009 this week, Sir Anthony called on government to recognise the fantastic benefits the tourism industry brings to the UK. He described the industry as the engine room of the country and noted that the recession had high-lighted its importance. Sir Anthony, who sits on the Academy of Culinary Arts Board of Governors, added more needed to be done to ensure that, regardless of academic preference, individuals were able to access appropriate learning opportunities.

Quote of the Week

"It is great to be in Manchester - one of the great British cities I am yet to insult."

Boris Johnson, London’s Mayor at this week’s Conservative Party conference

Facts of the week

Industry businesses are recognised for achievements in developing female talent

The Times 2009 Top 50 Where Women Want to Work list was published this week.

• Open to organisations with more than 1,000 employees in the UK and Ireland, the report aims to showcase endeavours to attract, retain and develop female talent.
• Industry businesses recognised in this year's list were:
  - Enterprise-Rent-A-Car
  - McDonalds Restaurants
  - MITIE Group
• MITIE’s Chief Executive, Ruby McGregor-Smith, said, "Women at certain stages in their career, particularly when they have young children, can have a real loss of confidence about what they can do. And they don't need to have that."

Source: zmags.com

Services sector grew in September according to survey

Indicator for sectors, including tourism, records fifth month of growth

• The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which is a closely watched indicator of the services sector, rose to a higher-than-expected level of 55.3 from 54.1 in August, where any number above 50 signals expansions.
• In addition to tourism, the PMI also includes banking, insurance, retail, education and services such as hairdressers.
• Howard Archer at HIS Global Insight said, "Given the dominant role of the services sector in the UK economy, this strongly endorses belief that the economy returned to growth in the third quarter."
• However, some experts have cautioned that not all of the sector had recovered, noting transport and storage as markets which were still in decline.
• Colin Ellis, Daiwa Securities said "Even if the economy does return to growth in the third quarter, joblessness is likely to rise for several months to come. The recovery is likely to prove slow and protracted, and we expect subdued growth during 2010."

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Interactive Discussion:
Has political correctness gone too far?

Is talent progression being stifled for the sake of being PC? This interactive panel discussion will explore the debate and is being hosted EP magazine and London Metropolitan University. This event is free attend and you can register your place on our website, just Click here to book your place

Article of the week

EP Condense is EP's weekly e-newsletter. But did you know that EP is also a bimonthly magazine available via subscription? Our Article of the Week provides a sample of what we have featured in past issue.

This week we feature a story from the EP archives. It is a management feature entitled As good as you have to be. William Baxter, Deputy Chief Executive of BaxterStorey, is regarded as one of the role models for the foodservice sector. Yet, few know much about the man who has stood behind three successful businesses in his 20 year plus career. What does he have to say about the industry?