Second time around for Michael

Second time around for Michael

County Down entrepreneur and business man, Michael Cafolla, entered into his second stint as chair of the local branch of the Institute of Hospitality (IoH) in May with a promise to raise the profile of the organisation in Northern Ireland and ensure that member opportunities for continuous personal development (CPD) were enhanced.

Michael, who previously served in the post a decade ago, is a familiar face to many across the hospitality and retail sectors here. A former general manager with the old Trusthouse Forte brand, he spent more than 10 years as a director with the Welcome hotel group in Belfast where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of Dukes and the Lansdowne Court.

These days, he and wife, Marie, are heavily involved with a successful bespoke floristry business, offering a specialist service to the wedding and corporate sectors, and they also have Cafolla’s, sandwich bar, restaurant and retail outlet in Newtownards, a family business that has been trading in various guises for more than a century. This is where the Cafollas produce their famous home-made ice-cream.

Since April this year, Michael has also been involved in selling international property through worldwide franchise partner, BeckittHanlon.

Speaking to LCN recently, Michael confirmed that he’d been busy since resuming his role as IoH chairman. And much of that early effort was focused on ensuring that the organisation’s local showcase – The Janus Awards – which were staged in May, went off without a hitch.

“The Janus Awards are a very big event and very time-consuming”, conceded Michael, “but they do give us reach into some of the sectors where, perhaps, we’re not as well represented as we could be.”

Since taking his new post, Michael has also been busy attending events and meeting members in their businesses and he’s been to the Institute’s London headquarters for a comprehensive briefing on a range of current issues.

“This is my second time as chairman and it makes me wonder why I’m doing it again,” he says with a smile. “I did it about 10 years ago and I’m delighted to have another opportunity to be involved. It’s voluntary, but I think you just get to the stage in your career where you feel like it’s time to put something back into the trade.”

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One of Michael’s key objectives in the chairman’s role is to boost awareness of the IoH in Northern Ireland:

“I think we could have a higher profile locally because the Institute is more about membership for individuals and it’s about people knowing what’s in it for them in terms of personal development,” he says. “We’ll be going for the Royal Charter within the next 12 months and I think that, as an organisation, we have a good chance of achieving that and it will add a lot to what we can offer.

“We’re also trying to work more closely with organisations such as Pubs of Ulster and the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation. We already collaborate with them, which is of great benefit to our members, but we would like to see that go further.”

One of the IoH’s most important roles is to promote the personal development of its members across the hospitality sector:

“We want people to see this as a career of choice, not a career of no choice,” adds Michael. “What we don’t want to see is people coming into the business and then leaving it again after a short time, we want to keep them within the industry and see them develop their skills.

“Everything comes back to the awareness that people have of the Institute and our ability to collaborate successfully with other industry bodies. That will keep us at the forefront of people’s minds and help to dispel any notion that the Institute is some kind of elitist body, this is really a place for everyone in hospitality.”