After a difficult week for the industry, is it time for alternative ideas and thinking to support talent and create new revenue streams?

It is a week which has perhaps raised more questions than provided answers and it is one which has caused many leaders to feel sadness and concern for the young. Many have felt exasperated with the new financial scheme proposed as it will inevitably result in more lost jobs. It was hoped that the scheme would reflect the one in Germany which gives more hope as it allows for support and retraining.

So many have faced the most difficult of odds over the last six months and in so many ways, people have been extraordinary in their behaviours and actions. In the last two days, as the new picture began to emerge, so we are also witnessing a new desire, a new energy to find ways of supporting the young, of creating new services and ideas to help save jobs and to give hope to talent across the spectrum.

Maybe this is the moment for alternative ideas and thinking? It will naturally be about business, about control and more about asking the questions; what can we do differently and how do we adapt?

The last decade has been very difficult for many emerging talents. The Industry has been less upwardly mobile for aspiring talent. Leaders have stayed in post for longer than ever before and it has been harder than ever to rise up the career ladder. Add in increases in student debt, the reported need to place higher deposits (up to 20%) down against mortgages and it is not hard to see why many younger aspiring talents feel they face very bleak futures.

However, as is so often the case, out of the dark often comes light and this week we have seen some positive signs:

• The webinar EP hosted last week on the hospitality education system does seem to have sparked much discussion. Many feel it is time that some real action takes place as the Industry does need a strong educational system in place. It is not good enough to say that the Education system is not fit for purpose. It is also time to look at options as well as how the industry highlights and supports the need for a strong system.

On the 30th September, we are delighted to host another webinar on this important topic with key expert speakers including Donald Sloan (Chair, Oxford Cultural Collective), Ruud Reuland (former CEO of EHL), Julia Sibley (Savoy Educational Trust) and Gordon McIntrye (City of Glasgow College) amongst others. Please feel free to come and join this debate.

• A number of hotels have approached EP to talk through ideas on how to re-purpose their operations, re-imagine spaces and re-think design as well as look to new ideas for how they establish new services which will support and create much-needed revenues to preserve jobs

• One hotel is even considering how they can support young professionals who feel vulnerable at this moment, could lose their accommodation and homes and want to explore how their spare capacity can be used effectively. They argue that this is a time for social compassion.

Leadership teams are seeking to change, to innovate and want to make sure that they can play a true social role for people. There is a necessity to embrace new thinking which can better look after people, communities and provides opportunities to create new revenue streams for the future.

The industry is yet again rising to the task of answering the toughest of questions during the toughest of times. It is once again showing why it is a very special sector.