Portavadie Pioneer New CPD Award in Tourism Leadership

Portavadie celebrated the achievement of their Leadership and Management Team who received a UHI Continuing Professional Development Award from Argyll College Principal Martin Jones on 20th August.

This new award, developed in partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands, is a culmination of a 2 year programme which included immersive workshops delivered by industry expert Jackie Cannon of the WayAhead People, and input from Iain Jurgensen, Portavadie's Managing Director, and refective assessments led by Argyll College UHI.

The cohort focussed on critical areas of the business including Financial Management, Sales and Marketing, Talent and Retention, Emotional Intelligence and Developing Networks and Partnerships, and worked in teams to research and deliver on business critical projects.

Martin Jones said “Argyll College, as part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, is proud to have worked hand-in-hand with the team at Portavadie in developing this CPD award for the hospitality sector. Employer partnerships, and investment in industry-led curriculum development in key sectors such as tourism, is critical to our mission to remain Argyll’s foremost Higher Education Provider. We are grateful to the management of Portavadie for their unwavering commitment to the professional development of their staff.  These young professionals, who are the first cohort to have gained this Leadership Award, should be rightfully proud of their achievement.”

Iain Jurgensen was rightly delighted commenting, “Today is the culmination of a lot of effort from all those involved. It`s truly great to see the smiles and sense of pride and achievement from all those involved from all sides today but in particular the “graduates”, our first cohort of what we hope will become an integral part of achievement and opportunity for our partnership and collaboration with education. Continual career development and recognition across the industry is critical to attracting and retaining talent in tourism and hospitality. We have such and array of talent within our industry with diverse skills already on rewarding career pathways, it’s great to see that recognised by our regional academic partner.”

If you’d like to find out more about the CPD award in Business Leadership in Tourism and Hospitality please email ACmarketing@uhi.ac.uk