A former Derwen College student is celebrating five years working with Premier Inn – and we couldn’t be prouder!
James Lewis, who has Down’s Syndrome, works in housekeeping two days a week at our Premier Inn Wrexham North hotel after finishing his hospitality training at the specialist Shropshire college. Not only does he love his job, but he’s become a vital part of the hotel team thanks to his housekeeping skills, knowing the routine and brand standards by heart.
Former Derwen College student James celebrates five years with Premier Inn!
James says:
"I like everything about my job and do it all on my own. I like my job, my uniform, and friends here. My job makes me proud, and makes my Mum proud, too."
Derwen College Work Experience and Supported Internship Coordinator, Abi Baker, says:
“James was a pleasure to work with, he’s a hard worker with a cheeky sense of humour. We are so proud of him for all his hard work during work experience in our training hotel, and then externally. We were delighted to work with Premier Inn to help him transition into paid employment in Wrexham. Congratulations James on five years of paid employment! We are very pleased to say that 24 of our students have gone on to work at Premier Inn after finishing college.”
James, who’s 28, enjoys living independently and is happy to have a busy life and a job, which he’s achieved through training at Derwen College, and his own hard work and positive attitude. This specialist further education college near Oswestry supports students into work and greater independence.
Derwen College has a small training hotel, which is modelled on a three-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and was created by Premier Inn and Novus Property Solutions.
Named Hotel 751, it was the first Premier Inn training centre of its kind in the country and opened to guests in 2019. Hotel 751 comprises a reception area, three en-suite bedrooms and a linen room all finished to Premier Inn standard, creating a real-life work setting for learners. The centre was built as part of Whitbread’s Force for Good programme, our commitment to helping our team members, local communities and the environment thrive. Our decade long partnership with Derwen is an illustration of our commitment to providing opportunities to all, with no barriers to entry and no limits to ambition.
As James became more confident in his housekeeping skills, he started an external work placement at Premier Inn, once a week. After finishing college, he was keen to use his skills in a paid job and – knowing how well he had done in his work placement – our Premier Inn Wrexham North hotel was keen to offer him his first job.
Karen Aguilera, Operations Manager at our Wrexham North Premier Inn, liaised with Derwen’s transition team to make his induction as smooth as possible. He received his first payslip in November 2018, and we’re pleased to say he’s been thriving ever since, moving into supported living with a friend, and travelling independently on the bus to work.
Karen says:
“James works two days a week, completing rooms to Premier Inn standard. He services the room independently. We check the room after James has finished and give feedback if necessary. He takes real pride in his rooms. “James is a good employee. He likes coming to work. He just gets on with his work and knows what he’s doing. He comes to our social events, including bowling and the Christmas do. He was quite shy at the first one, but now we can’t get him off the dancefloor!”
According to charity Mencap, fewer than 5% of adults with a learning disability are in paid work. Derwen College is proud to be able to partner with employers such as Premier Inn to improve this statistic.
Simon Ewins, Managing Director for Premier Inn and Restaurants and Whitbread Executive Sponsor for Disability Inclusion said:
“As an inclusive employer, our longstanding college partnerships – and of course the graduates who have gone on to work for Premier Inn – are incredibly important to us. Congratulations to James for celebrating five years with us, we are incredibly proud to have him as part of our Premier Inn team and we’re delighted to be part of his journey”.