Hospitality Association starts academy

The Hospitality Association has come up with a new initiative to help struggling bars and restaurants.

Nearly half its members say times are so tough, they're paying themselves less than the minimum wage.

The Association is starting a training academy, aiming to lift the profitability of hospitality businesses.

Chief executive Bruce Robertson says the programmes are designed to be short, and on the money.

"It shouldn't prevent people getting away from their business, to go and have a top up, get some fresh ideas, and hopefully challenge them to keep their business."

Chief executive Bruce Robertson says a lot of the Association's members are struggling.

"The discussion about the minimum wage going up we actually said that our members had to see how well they were doing, and it was pretty frightening when they said they're paying themselves less than minimum wage."

Programmes will cover such topics as Dynamic Pricing, Building your Brand and Food Cost Management.