Royal Approval for TVU Hospitality

The Queen presents top prize to local university

The Vice-Chancellor of Thames Valley University’s (TVU) has been awarded the prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for outstanding achievement and excellence in hospitality education.

The Prize is recognition of TVU's London School of Hospitality and Tourism's excellence in the field of hospitality education and employer engagement.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter John accepted the award on behalf of TVU, which is one of just 21 colleges and universities across the country to win the award and the only modern university in this biennial round to receive the royal accolade.

While the tourism sector continues to be a large area of growth for the UK economy, worth over £100 billion, concerns had been raised that although 10 per cent of the British workforce is now employed in tourism, inadequate levels of skills are hindering growth. Recent research has shown that across the UK, this skills shortage is making almost two-thirds of vacancies in hospitality and tourism hard to fill.

The Prize recognises the University's distinctive and unique approach to hospitality and tourism education that addresses these concerns, widening participation and developing close and mutually beneficial working links with the industry.

Brian Turner, Chef, Restaurateur, Patron and Honorary Professor at TVU said winning the Queen's Award is great recognition of TVU's excellence in the industry:

''Formal training has become essential in forging valuable careers in this industry, educational institutions like Thames Valley University have been paving the way for years now. This award really recognises their achievements in preparing their students for the future.

''The Queen's Anniversary Award is a huge win for TVU, and being the only modern university to win the award in 2009 really highlights their excellence in this arena.''

Professor Peter John, Vice-Chancellor, TVU, said:

''This award reflects the long history of high quality commitment by this University to meeting the needs, at all levels of education and training, of the hospitality industry. We are also proud to be the only modern university in England in this round to be receiving this high accolade from Her Majesty, which reinforces our reputation as a leading higher education institution for graduate employability.''

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February 22nd, 2010