Frank Mullen Bespoke Scholarship 2018

Kirstie Marshall, Wedding and Events Coordinator, Achnagairn Estate

“I’ve only been part of the hospitality industry for around 18 months after finishing college, and applied for a HIT Scotland scholarship to expand my knowledge within the events side of the industry, which I have been loving since I got this first job as Wedding and Events Coordinator at Achnagairn Estate, Inverness.

I wanted to develop a more commercial business awareness in this area,  experiencing how other luxury venues operate their weddings, expanding my own skills and knowledge that I could then use in my own workplace.  I was delighted when HIT Scotland organised for me to spend a few days with the award winning team at the Busby Hotel near Glasgow, where I got to see best practice on the wedding venue side first hand.

The Busby Hotel won the 2017 and 2016 VOWS awards for ‘Wedding Venue of the Year’ and their Coordinator Sarah-Jane won ‘Wedding Co-ordinator of the Year 2017’.   With 92 weddings this year, the team there really do know all about weddings!

A really important factor for me was to improve my confidence in every way possible, whether this be through my approach to situations, or ways in which I interact with my clients.  I thrive to be able to provide a memorable and special experience to each and every one of our brides and grooms by making their wedding personal to them, so wanted to improve my communication skills and help develop an  understanding of the brides and grooms I deal with on a daily basis.

Being new to the industry, this way of learning on the job with experts in their field was fantastic for me, and I cannot explain how valuable I found my time at The Busby, the entire team were amazing. Juliet the General Manager really has created the best team morale there, every single member of staff feels so valued which means they can then provide the best service to the brides and grooms choosing to spend their special day with them.  To experience Sarah-Jane and Jodi during the weddings was such fun, they really are a wonderful team. Given that the weddings are non-stop they still took the time to explain everything to me, answering all my questions. I have learnt some really valuable skills including a lot of admin skills that I felt I was lacking, and cannot wait to implement them into my everyday work!  Sarah-Jane was amazing at dealing with brides and grooms and nothing was too much. Seeing this team operate and learning from them, I now feel more confident about my skills, and I will definitely use this attitude with my brides and grooms!

I’m so glad I applied for a HIT Scotland scholarship, I definitely feel inspired to be the best I can be within this industry, and create lots of happy memories for our clients!”

HIT Scotland scholarships are open for application until 26th November 2018! Visit the Scholarships section to find out more.