About Firmdale Hotels

Tim Kemp is Chairman of Firmdale hotels London and New York. For the past 30 years he has taken what started out as a few small student hostels in central London locations and created from them, luxury, full service, award winning boutique hotels. He manages a core team of Directors and visits the various properties on a daily basis to ensure that each provides the high standards he demands. He has an active role in areas such as personnel and training, purchasing, branding and identity of his successful hotel group. Tim breathes life into derelict areas which in turn brings more jobs and money into new communities. It is this sense of independence that sets Tim Kemp apart as the leader of Firmdale Hotels. He has the freedom to realise his ideas. Whilst he is able to delegate responsibility to other leaders in his organisation, he retains a ground roots relationship with personnel at all levels.

Employee development by access to a variety of training interventions. Dedicated team of learning and development professionals, Head of Training, Group Trainer,specialist, Food / Beverage Training Manager. Dedicated departmental skills trainers who are experts in customer service field and knowledgeable in company specific operational procedures. Accessable to all employees, ensuring successful orientation of new employees. They monitor and record training provison to ensure consistency. Head of Training ensures courses accessible to all and pitched at different levels and job role. Ensures clear and progressive pathway towards achieving supervisory and management skills allowing development within the business . Includes management development programme, Supervisory Skills workshops, Food and Beverage academy, NVQ customer service and team leading, Graduate Management Training programme. Comprehensive training calendar published inviting all managers to nominate employees for the courses. Head of Training identifies employees who would benefit from specific courses and talented employees can enhance their skills and fulfill future leadership succession plans.

The Company recognises indivdual performance excellence through its Employee and Manager of the Quarter and Year Awards. These nominations firstly occur at individual hotel level, results are collated and an independent panel of representatives review and nominate the most outstanding employee and manager across the group. At the end of the company year, hotels submit final nominations for their employee and manager of the year. These are again independently judged. An awards ceremony is held for all employees who achieve special recognition throughout the year before the annual winners are announced. The quarterly and annual events are also used to celebrate Learning and Development achievements across the group, all employees that have participated in training are certificated at these events and their achievments recognised and congratulated at all levels.