20 April 2015 by Monica Or on behalf of Star Quality Hospitality Consultancy

Keeping Up with The Law Columnists

Monica Or, columnist and Hospitality Consultant at Star Quality Hospitality

Consultancy discusses where to seek advice and guidance to ensure that hospitality

establishments are fully compliant with recent legislative changes..

When running your hospitality establishment there are some fundamentals that need to be in

place and a lot of this is governed by legislation – failing to keep on top of this can result in hefty

fines, business closure and imprisonment. Below is a quick definition of these fundamentals:

– Policies which are high level management statements which protect information across your

business and are linked to legislative requirements, for example having a Health and Safety Policy

– Procedures are a step by step guide on how to implement the policy sometimes referred to as a

Standard Operating Procedure

– Standards are the minimal level to which these steps will be carried out.

In order to assist businesses to put this in to practice there are governing and advisory bodies

which will give guidelines to business operators. Having policies, standards and procedures is a

bare minimum for any organisation to run smoothly and the majority of you will have this in

place I am sure, however the difficulty comes in maintaining, reviewing and updating these.

How many of you have files full of policies and standard operating procedure manuals which

have been put together although they are sitting on your shelves gathering dust? These should

be living and breathing as they form the foundations of how you run your business. They should

be updated regularly and accessible for all.

There are certain key events which will flag up when policy changes will be coming in to force

and these will be linked to the budget and the upcoming elections.

So below is a quick list of where you can find information on the latest legislative changes and

guidance on how this may affect your policies, standards, procedures and the way you operate:

– Health and Safety Executive – information about Health and Safety at Work

– The Food Standards Agency – Responsible for Food Safety and Food Hygiene across the UK

– British Hospitality Association – The Voice of the Hospitality and Tourism Industry in the UK

– The Institute of Hospitality – the International Hospitality Professional Membership Body for

managers and aspiring managers who work and study in the hospitality, leisure and tourism

industries

– Green Hotelier – the leading source of information on the sustainable and responsible agenda

within the hotel industry

– The Sustainable Restaurant Association – Helping restaurant members become global leaders

in sustainability.

– British Institute of Innkeeping – the professional body for the licensed retail industry

This list is by no means exhaustive although gives you a good starting point of where you can go

to get advice to ensure you are working within the law.

When was the last time you updated your policies, procedures and standards?

About Monica Or: As the founder of Star Quality Hospitality Consultancy, Monica specialises in working operationally with

the owner/managers of independent hotels and restaurants focusing on their business structure and service delivery. She is the author of ‘Star Quality Hospitality – The Key to a Successful Hospitality Business’ an Amazon best seller.