THE TEAM

School Principal - Alan Cutler FIH FCMI

Alan started working in hotels at the age of 15 and has been employed within the hospitality industry continually since then. After studying for an HND in Hotel Management at Blackpool College of Art, in 1973 he joined the Royal Air Force as a catering officer, retiring in 1989 as a squadron leader. He was then chef-proprietor of his own restaurant for four years before taking up a post as Head of Hospitality Services at Aston University.

Since 1998 he has run his own training and consultancy business - inspiring thousands of catering supervisors and managers to drive their businesses forward through great leadership and exceptional customer service - which now operates as The School for Hospitality Leadership.

Through his research and books, Alan is recognised as one of the UK's leading authorities on leadership within the hospitality industry, his approach to which he shares through his training, writing and motivational speaking.

He is an John Adair Leadership Foundation accredited trainer 

Senior Associate Trainer - Sue Orton

Since gaining an HND in Hotel, Catering and Administration Management, Sue has held a number of roles in the hospitality industry, including catering management in the healthcare and retail sectors. Since 1994 she has been delivering management development training for the likes of Stonebow, the Co-operative Retail Society and, since 2000, as a self-employed training consultant.

Sue certainly practices what she preaches in that she is continually seeking to develop her own range of skills. She has a host of hospitality and training-related qualifications and, most recently, studied in her own time to become a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

We are delighted that she has been working with Hospitality Leadership since 2001 and has inspired many hundreds of catering supervisors and managers through the delivery of our training programmes.

Like Alan, she is also a John Adair leadership Foundation accredited trainer

Associate Trainer - Caroline Foote

Awaiting Caroline's photo

Caroline gained her HND in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management from Leeds Polytechnic and then joined Swallow Hotels as a graduate trainee, leaving five years later as deputy manager of a busy 84-bedroom city centre hotel.

She then moved sideways into the field of catering training, including seven years as a training consultant with the Hotel and Catering Training Company, where she managed a team of six regional trainers; later becoming a partner in Stonebow.  Along the way, she obtained a Certificate in Education from Huddersfield.

Since 1997 she has operated as an independent training consultant, working on a range of projects for hospitality organisations, as well as those from other industries.

Associate Trainer - Tim Ripper

Awaiting Tim's photo

Time has an HND in Hotel and Catering Management from Manchester Polytechnic, as well as a host of other hospitality-related qualifications. He first worked as a catering manager for British Transport Hotels, before moving to Grand Metropolitan as a training officer.

It is in the field of personnel development that Tim continued to develop his career, including ten years with the Hotel and Catering Training Company, where he led a team of five regional trainers.

Since 2000, he has worked as an independent training consultant, largely in the hospitality industry, on a number of varied projects for blue chip companies in the UK and overseas, including training needs analyses, programme design and e-learning development. One particularly interesting project was a seven month interim post for the Charities Commission as their Employee Development and Communications Manager.