Springboard Scotland 
Springboard Scotland is an educational charity dedicated to promoting careers in hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism and raising the profile of the industry. Since its launch in 1998 Springboard Scotland has worked closely with both the industry and education sectors forging strong links in order to promote these industries as a great place to work. 
Tourism in Scotland is worth an estimated £4 billion annually and it is vital that the industry attracts and retains the best tourism workforce in the world. 
The Springboard Scotland team works directly with the industry to improve perceptions as an employer, to attract new talent into the industry and help address specific HR challenges such as recruitment and retention. 
Springboard also works directly with potential recruits showcasing the vast range of career opportunities in Scottish Tourism and helping young people, unemployed clients, adult returners, career changers and disadvantaged people to improve their 
prospects in life by preparing 
them for work in hospitality, 
leisure, travel and tourism. 
Springboard can offer up-to
date information and advice on 
college courses, career 
opportunities and routes into the 
industry. It also has a huge 
range of resources such as 
videos, CD-ROMs, careers 
magazines, a 'Who Wants to 
be a Hotelier' boardgame, 
case studies and student 
activities designed to 
support the Scottish curriculum, bringing the industry to life and encouraging people to follow a career in tourism. 
As well as its strong links locally, Springboard has a national Springboard Business Partnership Scheme which has forged even stronger links with major hospitality and tourism businesses such as Accor, BCP Car Parks, Best Western, City Inn, Compass, Gleneagles, Greene King, Intercontinental, LA Fitness, Malmaison & Hotel Du Vin, Thistle, The Witchery and Whitbread. 
Springboard is also launching a Scottish Business Partnership Scheme to enable Scottish companies to benefit more directly from the work of Springboard Scotland. 
Springboard has many initiatives running in Edinburgh including the 'Right Staff' workshops and the 'Right Staff' workbook. These resources help local businesses improve their skills in recruiting and retaining their staff. Springboard's support is especially beneficial for SMEs who do not have dedicated HR teams to support them. 
Another key initiative in Edinburgh is the Tourism Passport. Working in partnership with Scottish Enterprise and the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG), this new skills initiative has been piloted in Edinburgh. Officially launched at the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group's annual conference in March 2006 the Tourism Passport aims to ensure all staff starting work with a tourism organisation are trained in four key areas - communication, team work, customer care and personal appearance - which are vital to ensuring that visitors enjoy their stay in the capital. 
Contact: David Allen Tel: 07801 074 266 Email:davida@springboarduk.org.uk