Hospo heroes aim to lead the way

A SERIES of hospitality workshops are being hosted by prominent Ballarat venues as part of Ballarat Regional Tourism’s new HospoHeroes training program.

The State Government-subsidised initiative will run from May into June, and BRT CEO Sarah Myers said it’ll provide a great way to energise the local industry after recovering from the pandemic.

“We come at it from two different ways. One is to help our industry both with upskilling and training new recruits,” she said.

“It’ll also help our business operators. They’re all time-poor and busy running their venues and so taking away some of that pressure of training will only help in their recovery.

“And obviously by upskilling and training these workers, Ballarat can deliver a high-quality experience for residents and visitors alike.”

A total of five specialised workshops will be available, led by senior staff from Aunty Jacks, Johnny Alloo, Mitchell Harris Wines, and 18th Amendment Bar.

Capacity is limited to provide a more hands-on, intimate experience, with the view to add more sessions should the demand be there.

Each session will run out of the businesses’ respective venues, and Mitchell Harris co-owner Alicia Linley said their Welcome to Wine workshop will comprise “completely practical” on-the-ground training.

“We’ll have them behind the bar, showing them how to gas down wines, popping corks, things like that, as well as giving them in-depth customer service training,” she said.

“I imagine it’ll be the same sort of thing across the board, and I think there’ll be a lot of people even outside of the hospitality industry who’d be interested in this sort of thing.

“Training is an absolute must. You have to train your staff, and to have someone who’s funding dedicated sessions with sector-specific experts within Ballarat to train new staff, it’s phenomenal.

“It’s great to see Ballarat people training Ballarat staff. Even just getting all these people together, it’ll give them pride in the work they do, and they’ll feel they’ve got a much larger tie to the place they’re working.”

For more information or to register visit bit.ly/3MxQUX7.