Business leaders from a number of leisure industry organisations and companies have met with People 1st for a round-table discussion regarding the training and skills issues currently facing the sector.

The event, the first of seven such talks scheduled, was held at The Berkeley hotel in London last week and focused on effective ways for the industry to deal with high staff turnover and employment issues as well as the skills gap caused by insufficient training.

People 1st addressed the importance of developing a skills strategy designed to tackle low productivity within the leisure industry – which, according to People 1st, is the lowest of all UK sectors.

David Nicholls, executive chef of Mandarin Oriental, said: “The skills issue has been prominent in our industry for many years.

“Owners and managers alike need to become more responsible of driving the training and skills needs of employees.”

Nick Howe, management director of contract caterer Holroyd Howe, said: “There is a real opportunity to do something now – the Olympics is a destination to prepare for.”

Picture: Around £890m is lost each year through retention problems in the industry.