The ‘Essential Toolkit’ Workshops for Managing the Bottom Line – Supporting the 4th Annual BAHA Conference and IT Exhibition – are announced

A comprehensive programme of highly topical interactive education workshops will make putting 'theory into practice' the order of the afternoon for hospitality finance and IT professionals attending the 4th Annual BAHA (British Association of Hospitality Accountants) one-day Conference and Exhibition – entitled 'The Essential Toolkit for Managing the Bottom Line' – to be held on Thursday, 19 November 2009 at the Sofitel Hotel, London Heathrow at Terminal 5.

The afternoon 'Essential Toolkit Workshops' and their expert presenters will include:

• 'National Minimum Wage and Hospitality', presented by Senior BAHA member and Industry Advisor Howard Field; and Jon Claypole, Tax Director, Mazars
• 'Make Every Penny Count...an Efficient and Cost-effective Back Office', led by Georgia Leybourne, Sales and Marketing Director, Albany Software
• 'Linking Revenue/Channel ManagementStrategies withtheBottom Line', presented by Kate Varini, Senior Lecturer, and Cathy Burgess, Senior Lecturer in Accounting for the Hospitality Industry – both from the Department of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management, Oxford Brookes University
• 'Renegotiating Property Management System (PMS) Contracts', led by Ted Horner, Managing Director of E. Horner & Associates – the first non-US person to be elected to the HITEC Technology Hall of Fame
• 'Customer Profitability Analysis – The Next Steps', presented by Dr Vira Krakhmal, from The Open University and author of the BAHA Recommended Practice Guide entitled 'Developing Profitability Analysis for Hotels'
• 'New Services and Tools to Grow Your Revenue Management Armoury', led by IDeaS, provider of hospitality focused pricing and optimisation solutions
• 'Performance Management for Hotels -- How to Make it Work in Practice with Change++', presented by Della Payne, Managing Director of business intelligence specialists Change++
• 'Reducing Hotel Communications Costs', led bySolution Builders Limited
• 'The Future is Now!', presented by Agilysys Solutions Specialist Jo Gardner
• 'Human Resources (HR) Legislation Compliance and Wage Cost Control', led by Brooke Hotels and Fourth Hospitality software solutions UK. The Brooke Hotels group contracted Fourth Hospitality to provide Employee Management System elements of HR
• 'Using Market Intelligence to Maximise Your Hotel Revenues', presented by Helen Terry, Account Manager, Rubicon; and Andy Storey, Managing Director, Rubicon Europe – provider of market intelligence to the global travel industry
• 'Reducing Labour Costs with Eproductive' (internet-based performance management systems), led by Janet Gray, Human Resources & IT Director, Ramada Jarvis hotels; and Tessa Shepherd,FinanceDirector, Eproductive
• 'Consumerism and How it is Affecting Our Future', presented by Micros Fidelio, specialists in information technology solutions for the hospitality and speciality retail industries worldwide
• 'Bionic Purchasing: the Evolution of the Robo-buyer. The Fusion of Technology and Product Knowledge to Reduce Cost', led by Glen Combe, Client Purchasing Controller, and Alison Gardner, Client Purchasing Manager, iTradeNetwork – the food industry's provider of global supply chain management and intelligence systems.
• 'Gaining Marketing Strength for Your Own In-house Data', presented by Alacer hospitality software.

Commenting on the Workshops, BAHA Chief Executive Carl Weldon said: "The Workshops will help reinforce delegate learning in the key areas of wage cost, revenue management, purchasing, use of IT systems and business analysis – making the Conference and IT Exhibition a truly productive, informative and enjoyable experience. Basically, the Workshops are the 'Essential Toolkit' element for the 2009 BAHA conference theme of 'Managing the Bottom Line'."

Getting the main BAHA Conference sessions off to a flying start in the morning will be the keynote speaker – British Hospitality Association (BHA) Chief Executive Bob Cotton OBE, who will be joined by a distinguished line-up of UK and international speakers, all experts in their own fields, that include: Meinhard Huck, President of Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts; Warren Mandelbaum, Head of Revenue Management at Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants; David Clarke, Chief Executive of Best Western Hotels; Alan Burns, Vice-President, Finance, Hotels.com and Venere.com; Jonathan Langston, Managing Director of TRI Hospitality Consulting; Robert Barnard, Partner for Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF; and Frank Wolfe CAE, Chief Executive of US-based Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP).

The subjects under scrutiny will range from 'Revenue Trends and the Value of Revenue Management Skills'; and the 'Impact of Green Issues and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Terms of Responsibilities, Costs and the Bottom-line'; to an examination of 'The Latest Cutting-edge Hospitality Information Technology (IT)'.

In this respect, as in previous years, the 2009 BAHA Conference will be supported by an exhibition of 25 'top-of-class' IT suppliers, providing delegates with a 'one stop shop' to view the latest technologies relevant to the hospitality industry.

The one-day event's grand finale will be a drinks reception and sumptuous three-course 'Gala Conference Dinner' followed by entertainment. An added bonus will be a presentation the following morning by Liz Hall, Head of Hospitality and Leisure Research, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), on '
UK Hotels Forecast – Not Out of the Woods Yet', the title of PwC's latest UK forecast; and a hospitality industry data update from Smith Travel Research (STR) Global.

For regularly updated information and attendance pricing options, visit the BAHA Conference Website: www.bahaconference.co.uk . For bookings and further details, contact: Chris Symonds, BAHA Conference Co-ordinator, on telephone: 01202 889 430; fax: 01202 887 967; or email: [email protected] .

About HOSPA

HOSPA - the Hospitality Professionals Association - is a not-for-profit educational organisation, formed to bring together professionals involved in all things commercial within the hospitality industry in the UK. HOSPA is recognised as the UK's authoritative voice in the hospitality industry on financial management, technical accounting issues, as well as the leading arena for debate on investments, hospitality technology developments, revenue management and marketing. HOSPA's Professional Development Programmes provide rigorous and relevant education for all those seeking to further their careers in these important functions. It will also be launching its new course in Asset Management in September 2020. A regular programme of workshops and seminars provides the perfect opportunity for members to continue to develop their knowledge and network with colleagues. HOSPA is on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @HOSPATweets. For more information, visit: www.hospa.org

Dr. Julian Demetriadi FIH MTS
+44 (0)1722 238 627
HOSPA