Essex University's Edge Hotel School celebrates ten years

The school offers degrees which combine academic learning with practical experience in the fully-commercial four-star Wivenhoe House Hotel.

Beginning in 2012, the Edge Hotel School is the UK’s first teaching establishment of its kind based in a fully operational hotel and is now celebrating its tenth anniversary.

The Grade II listed 18th century Wivenhoe House Hotel is steeped in history and yet is contemporary in every sense.

Unlike other degrees which offer an optional extra year in industry to gain practical experience, students at the Edge Hotel learn whilst working in all the departments of the hotel to gain hands-on knowledge of the hotel operation and management.

The current principal Andrew Boer joined the school in 2014.

He went into detail about what the course offers its students.

Mr Boer said: “We do two year accelerated degrees, and more conventional three year degrees too.

“Two year students work on the course and in the hotel for two years, but they don’t have the same holidays as traditional students, it’s a case of working through the busy periods like Christmas and Easter.

“We offer courses in hotel management, hospitality management and events management, as well as post-grad courses in international and MSC hospitality management.

“It’s experimental learning; they will work in all the different departments at some point.

“In the first year, they clean the rooms, work in the kitchens, carry the cases around.

“The second year sees a step up, as they become supervisors, looking at planning, logistics, quality assurance and they are in charge of other people.

“In the final year, they then get the chance to be duty management.

“There is a group of full-time professionals to guide them and they are doing this alongside lectures and seminars, as it’s a uni degree, not an apprenticeship.”

Over the past ten years, the course has developed with Mr Boer saying “some things worked and others did not”.

He said: “Because this is an unusual institution and has a fully commercial operation working with us, of course, there have been things we’ve had to change.

“Lots of things have worked, and others haven’t. At one point we debated having three different starts to the courses each year but we decided to just have two, in October, and then January for post-grads.

“One thing that has worked is the option in length. Two year degrees can be as challenging and rewarding as three year ones.

“But we do a lot of work to help us to deliver the curriculum like live case studies and have a phenomenal profile with people in hospitality and the events industry.

“One of the reasons why the vice-chancellor and others are so enthusiastic is because we are still here, proving the concepts work.”

Mr Boer is correct; the concepts do work.

The hotel school has graduated just under 300 students since 2012, many of which have gone on to work in managerial positions at top hotels including The Lanesborough, The Savoy and Coworth Park.

Maria Tolhurst reached the top spot at the Premier Inn in Ipswich after completing her hospitality degree at the Edge Hotel School.

Oliver Harris, who graduated in 2016, is now Assistant Operations Manager at Whatley Manor.

He said: “My time at Edge Hotel School helped me in so many areas of my continued professional development.

“Not only did it open the door to the world of five star luxury hospitality, but it also enabled me to gain fundamental operational, supervisory, and management knowledge and understanding to take me to the next level in my career.”

For Emily Nugent, a graduate from the school’s second cohort of students whose now events manager at The Dorchester Collection, choosing Edge was a “no brainer”.

“It was fantastic to have lots of on-the-job experience from every department”, she said.

“This allowed me to have a real understanding of my colleagues’ roles and what they do on a daily basis so I could understand and predict their requirements.”

Mr Boer added: “In the national students’ survey in 2019, 100 per cent said they were satisfied with their learning experience, the number one in the UK.

“In 2020, we slipped to 96.7 per cent, but were still the best at the uni and amongst the best in the country.

“Our average is 94 per cent over a three year running total, so our students clearly enjoy what they’re doing.”

On top of this, the Edge Hotel School has also racked up plenty of other achievements during its ten years, including a Hotel of the Year award shortlisting, sending students to The Brits, and most recently helping a graduate, Brittany Carter, reach the semi-finals of Lord Alan Sugar’s The Apprentice.

Reaching ten years was a huge milestone for everyone involved in the school, from students to staff, industry experts, and graduates.

On the anniversary, and looking to the future, Mr Boer said: “This is a significant milestone for us, having taken on an ambition that hadn’t been accomplished by any other hotel school back in 2012 and watching the model work so effectively over the years.

“Taking the time to reflect upon so many success stories is hugely important to us and should by no means be overlooked amid so much conversation around skill shortages and staff challenges.

“It’s important to shine a spotlight on just how much progress has been made in the past decade with the positioning of hospitality careers and we hope this approach to practical and professional learning is a model that can be followed by many other educational establishments in the future.

“Going forwards, we don’t want to lose the distinctiveness we’ve got, as it’s one of the reasons we get students to come to us.

“We want to keep growing, but keep the same values, professional approach, and distinctiveness of our courses.

“But the bottom line is proof of concept. What was started ten years ago, actually works ten years on, and we have done the job we set out to do.

“We are here and here to stay. Now we are getting ready for the next ten.”