College's Award Winning Partnership

Geoff Tonge has illustrated the ‘high risk’ approach that enabled Loughborough College to break new ground and make a significant contribution to the future success of night clubs in the UK.

The College’s at first unlikely sounding partnership with Luminar Leisure, the largest provider of late night entertainment venues and employers of more than 4,000 people, has proved a double national award winner and provided the company with a vastly more qualified workforce.

Mr Tonge, a trainer and lecturer at the College who acted as joint project manager, explained that the investment the College made to tailor specific management development programmes and put in place the very best trainers was particularly high and the partnership’s   success depended greatly on Luminar’s continuing commitment.

“We knew if we approached night club owners with a management package designed for say a clothes retailer they would have laughed us out of the door,” he explains.

“Our task after being given the green light four years ago in September was to design by the following March  a ‘Luminarised’ course to meet the specific needs of individuals doing  very challenging jobs in leadership & management.”

The course began on time with no fewer than 450 Luminar managers and team leaders on board and was validated up to foundation degree level by Nottingham Trent University, who have provided excellent support. An honours degree was then developed and added two years ago.

Mr Tonge adds: “We promised that our training would not disrupt the work of staff and the business in any way - quite a challenge considering their unusual hours.

“To do this, we sent out trainers to venues from Scotland to Plymouth and Norwich to Gloucester and also designed an IT package that provided their staff with the resources to study 24/7 as many need to access it during the twilight hours.”

He also admitted that College trainers, who jointly presented the programme with trainers from Luminar, had to ‘learn the specialism’s of the late night industry’ in terms of the support they needed to provide.

“The managers themselves come from diverse backgrounds and many do not have any qualifications or previous experience of adult education.

“So, in some cases, we had to retrace our steps and provide further support to keep them on board.

“The results, however, have been fantastic and well worth all the work and effort. Seeing the joy on their faces when graduating in front of relatives and partners is what it is all about.

“Many have achieved things they didn’t consider possible. A total of 110 graduated in 2009 and a further 60 have already done so this year with a further 15 set to complete their honours degree - figures that shocked the validators who were expecting much smaller numbers!”

The partnership between the College and Luminar scooped a National Training Award for successful collaboration between business and colleges in December 2009 and also won a Luminar national award for supplier excellence.

It has also been highlighted by CULN? an organisation representing universities and colleges that run foundation degrees, as a research case study with the College and Luminar being lead presenters at their summer conference last year at Leicester City’s Walkers Stadium.

“Quite apart from the awards, we feel that both ourselves and Luminar have gained so much from the novel experience - and are continuing to do so,” Mr Tonge adds.

“We have gained enormously in confidence and feel now we can match anyone in terms of training for the leisure and travel industry. We have a model that can be adapted for use by major companies.

“Meanwhile I expect Luminar to continue to bear the fruits of their investment for years to come. They now have in place a significantly different team of managers in terms of their competency and knowledge.”