Stoke Mandeville Stadium and Olympic Lodge Hotel at Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, have become the first such hotel and leisure complex to gain Hospitality Assured – the prestigious internationally recognised industry-specific standard for delivering service and business excellence in the hospitality industry.
Stoke Mandeville Stadium and the 50-bedroom Olympic Lodge Hotel are managed by Leisure Connection Ltd. on behalf of WheelPower - British Wheelchair Sport, the national charity which helps people involved in wheelchair sport and many others with disabilities to achieve their sporting dreams.
Commenting on gaining the Hospitality Assured standard, Martin McElhatton, Chief Executive of WheelPower, said: “It’s a wonderful achievement for all the team at Stoke Mandeville Stadium and the Olympic Lodge Hotel. As the national centre for disability sport, the Stadium provides athletes of all ages and abilities with the best facilities and service so that they can compete at the highest levels, and gaining the Hospitality Assured accreditation proves that this is the case.
“WheelPower provides accessible facilities at Stoke Mandeville Stadium – the ‘birthplace of the Paralympic Games’ – that include an Athletics Arena, Sports Hall, Indoor Bowls Centre, Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre. On-site accommodation in the Olympic Lodge Hotel and the Olympic Village is suitable for a wide range of disabilities and is complemented by meeting and conference facilities, as well as catering for events of all sizes.”
The Hospitality Assured accreditation was undertaken by a team of independent UKAS (The United Kingdom Accreditation Service) assessors from MQA Ltd. on behalf of the Institute of Hospitality, which is the professional body for hospitality industry managers worldwide. It covered all aspects of the Olympic Lodge Hotel – with a capacity of 350 beds, including a dormitory area; catering and vending services provided in the Stadium; catering, vending and bar services provided in the Bowls Centre; and conferences and events run anywhere on the site.
Lynn Britten, Business Manager of Stoke Mandeville Stadium for Leisure Connection Ltd., said: “It is a magnificent achievement. Over the past 12 months, everyone has worked extremely hard to develop and improve the business. Gaining Hospitality Assured highlights the benefits of the Leisure Connection Quality Management System.
“Hospitality Assured dovetails extremely well with Quest (the UK Quality Scheme for Sport and Leisure) – for which we retained our ‘highly commended’ status in our recent assessment. The Hospitality Assured assessment covered accommodation, catering and conferencing, whilst Quest covered sport and leisure. Each quality award has similar values in that they give the customer and client an assurance of the quality they will receive when they visit Stoke Mandeville Stadium and the Olympic Lodge Hotel. We would certainly encourage all leisure centres with hotels, catering, and conferencing facilities, to attempt to gain the Hospitality Assured standard.”
Linda Martin, Institute of Hospitality Director of the Hospitality Assured programme, added: “I would like to congratulate everyone at Stoke Mandeville Stadium and the Olympic Lodge Hotel on their fine achievement. It is especially pleasing that a venue such as Stoke Mandeville Stadium, owned by WheelPower, which does such fantastic work in the field of disability sport, should now gain Hospitality Assured for delivering service and business excellence. Both the Stadium and the Hotel have gained quality awards in all business areas – clearly demonstrating the service ethos and commitment to excellence. It is also beneficial that all staff, regardless of their discipline or work area, have been recognised for their contribution towards the customer experience.”
