2011 has been an interesting year for the UK Chapter of the NEWH.

It started quietly and unfortunately we had to cancel our major Fund raising event in May we were all so disappointed.

Then unfortunately our President had to resign because of commitment and pressure of work.

The first half of 2011 was not looking good in fact it was a headache after an extremely good night out when one gets home at 3.00a.m. and you have to get up to go to an important client meeting at 9.00a.m.  Caffine, and much more was required.

Caffine I took but nothing else except, the most fantastic help and support form all our members and especially from NEWH in the USA.

The second half of 2011 started with the most amazing tour of the new St Pancras Hotel, it really does Marriott proud.  If any of you come over the pond and visit it has to be a must to take the tour.  We had and incredible attendance and the wine hospitality and canapés to die for.  Everything was perfect.  This encouraged us to go forward with our next event being Pool and Drinks at the Cadogan Arms and English pub on the famous Kings Road in Chelsea.

The Savoy Hotel – what can one say about such Icon of a Hotel.  Limited to 20 people who we could take around, we sold out within 2 weeks of putting it out.  This was wonderful as many of our members and guests like the St Pancras had been involved with these hotels.

Things are looking up for the NEWH UK Chapter.  We have arranged our Decorex Breakfast held at the Royal Chelsea Hospital Chelsea London.  The home of the Chelsea Pensioners, the ladies and gentlemen, who dress in traditional Red uniforms for official occasions.

At the Decorex Breakfast this year we are opening our doors to the Men as members, I already have a list of Gentlemen who wish to join. Decorex is one of the leading Design Exhibitions in the UK.

Our future events include The Sleep Exhibitions the main contract exhibition in the UK. The Events company UMB very kindly give us a stand so that the students from the Royal Collage of Art can exhibit their products, designs etc.

We are looking to the future and are lucky to have Shelia, Julia and Jena coming to the UK to meet with our members and sponsors in October, more Hotel Tours in 2012 and we are already planning our Gala event for May 2012 at the Royal College of Art.

Our membership is growing so we are going forward.

Thank you for reading such a long letter

Lynn

Lynn Fisher
President NEWH UK
Sinclaire Ltd
www.sinclaire.co.uk

Event - Savoy Tour, followed by cocktails at Cellar Door
Date - August 2011

Event – ‘Pimms and Pool at The Cadogen Arms'
Date – Thursday 28 July 2011
Time – from 6.30pm
Venue – The Cadogan Arms, 298 King’s Road, London, SW3 - 020 7352 6500

Friends, colleagues and clients had a chance to enjoy a relaxed and informal summer evening on The Kings Road with great company, food, drinks and a game of pool.

As you are aware, our second Annual Fund-raiser at the Royal College of Art had to be cancelled due to some difficult, unforeseen circumstances.

At the event we would have been introducing this years recipients of the scholarship awards and so instead, Jo our Director of Scholarship will be sending you all a short bulletin about them. In addition to this, you will of course be able to view their work at the up and coming breakfast shows to which all members of the NEWH are invited. As soon as we have the dates confirmed for these shows we will be letting you know. - For those of you who have attended before, you will know what fabulous events these breakfast shows are.

Coming up, as always, we have the Decorex Breakfast to look forward to and we on the board are now busy working to put together another event before then. We are hoping to have this in the diary for early July, before the holiday season gets in full flow. This event will be for all members and none members and there will be a twist to the event - so keep you eyes peeled for more information - its going to be a really fun event at a really exciting venue.

The NEWH is evolving to meet the needs of our existing members and to ensure that we keep it exciting and interesting for new members too.

So in the Spirit of Networking, we hope to see you all soon,

Kindest regards from the NEWH UK Chapter Board members.

Melanie.

Dear Members

Following our two Scholarship awards in April 2011 the next Scholarship Event is the Royal College of Art Graduation Exhibition

THE MEMBERSHIP, as usual, are all invited to The Rector's Breakfast so I hope as many members as possible will join the Board on the 23rd June at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, SW7, entrance opposite the Albert Hall, to have breakfast together and visit the first Private Viewing of the Design Schools Exhibition. The departments of Architecture, Ceramics & Glass, Design Products, Textiles, Communication Art & Design, Fashion & Footwear, Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork & Jewellery etc. will be showing the the final work of the Graduating M.A. students. We would like the input of as many members as possible to help us select a Third Winner of the NEWH RCA Scholarship 2011.

We would like you, while visiting the show, to shortlist any female students whose work has excellence and could be applicable to the Hospitality Industry as a worthy winner of our award - it is the Board's way of getting your involvement and participation in the Scholarship programme.

Meanwhile please see comments from our first two 2011 students - Chrystalla Achilleos who works on large scale Architectural Glass pieces, and Jane Evans from Woven Textiles:

Chrystalla Achilleos

Working with glass can be an expensive passion, particularly when passionate about creating large-scale architectural features as I sincerely am. Therefore I cannot thank the NEWH enough for their generous scholarship award that has made an incredible difference in helping with the final term of my MA at the Royal College of Art. It has already helped fund the making of my glass wall installation for my final degree show and I intend to use the rest of the award money towards making a laminated panel wall piece or screen for the SLEEP exhibition this November.

Yet, even though the financial support has been a wonderful surprise for which I am extremely grateful, I also have to stress the confidence boosting impact the NEWH committee had for me upon giving my presentation to even be considered for the award. It could not have been better timed, to meet a group of successful women so enthusiastic about helping emerging artists take a large step closer towards achieving their future goals. Therefore to have a group of people like this believe in you enough to want to support the start-up of your career, it is the most priceless of compliments and awards that could be given. Thank you!

Jane Evans

Thank you so much for the scholarship and for the opportunity to exhibit at 'Sleep', which I would love to do.

I have already used some of the money to buy materials to create a large length of one of my smaller samples - a woven piece made with acrylic plastic. As I am creating work for an architectural setting, the ablility to create large pieces is very important to me. I have also bought a variety of new materials to experiment with and broaden my collection. I plan to use the rest of the money after I graduate towards the cost of equipment and materials to continue my work, with the hope of gaining commissions.

Joanna Buxton - Director of Scholarship

2011 Sustainability Newsletter 2

As there is a visit to The Savoy in August here are some facts on what "green" initiatives were carried out during the refurbishment.

Thanks to Debra Patterson, The Savoy Green Leader, who sent me this information with a few extra comments from me. She is unfortunately on holiday when we visit so regrets that she is unable to join us.

Waste management initiatives at The Savoy include:

• 96% of all waste diverted from landfill to be reused or recycled by their waste contractor Brewsters Waste
• All natural cork is collected by Laithwaites Wines, granulated and used as a mulch in their vineyards as part of the ‘I Love Natural Cork Campaign’
• Paper and food recycling bins in all departments
• Used cooking oil is collected & recycled into biodiesel with ‘Oilsense’ programme by PDM Group
• Integrated Pest Management Program – Ecolab Pest Control
• Recycling Program for Electronic Waste and toner cartridges
• Redistribution of household goods and unclaimed lost property items to charity
• Office suppliers from UKOS plc (who were awarded 1^st place in The Sunday Times Best Green Companies 2010)
• Housekeeping department sort and recycle all items used by guests from their rooms
• Electronic document sending, double-sided printing & whiteboards encouraged to reduce paper usage
• Their Foodwaste to Renewable Energy Scheme turns their organic waste into electricity, by PDM Group
• Purchasing department are committed to reducing packaging wherever possible – one example is having cardboard boxes that is folded down then returned to the supplier for re-use.

To conserve energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions, Fairmont has introduced compact fluorescent light bulbs where possible. Most hotels now have water-efficient showerheads and tap aerators.
They continue to replace all toilets that have a flush capacity over 2 gallons (7.6 litres). Considering the latest water-efficient toilets work on 2 & 4 litre flush capacity there is further improvement possible. As ever, guests can do their part by choosing to participate in the towel and sheet exchange programme offered at all Fairmont properties.

At The Savoy, energy and water conservation projects include:

• Lighting Retrofit & other lighting efficiency projects, includes dimmers in public areas and function spaces, LED exit signs
• Energy Management System installed - INNCOM

Motion detectors in all 268 guest rooms influence changes in lighting and air-conditioning according to set parameters and status of the room

• Kitchen refrigeration plant heat rejected is recovered and used to pre-heat their domestic hot water
• Fan AHU/pumping stations/systems are inverter controlled by second BMS, with heat recovery wheels installed
• All electrical supplies from the main distribution panel are metered (now obligatory in the UK) 500 kWh Combined Heat and Power Plant - rejected heat from the engine used as the hotel’s primary heat source, with new high efficiency boiler plant as back-up
• Passive Systems & Cooling – double glazed units throughout, south facing windows covered with solar and heat reflective film. All guest rooms and public areas have fresh air supply
• INNCOM BMS system has been upgraded to include all existing and new plant control and
monitoring
• Installation of a number of dual flush toilets
• Colleague Educational Awareness includes ‘Switch Off Taps & Lights" and ‘Did You Know’
environmental facts campaigns. Colleagues can join the hotel’s Green Team and are introduced to their environmental work at the orientation stage for all new colleagues

Additional information:

The Savoy now features a Herb Garden with over 16 herbs used in the hotel’s culinary dishes and cocktails and they offer a range of organic wines and teas. Biodynamic options are soon to be available. It’s no surprise to hear that the prize-winning wines in recent blind tastings have been organic and bio-dynamic – this is as much of a reason for the hotel to be offering them as any environmental considerations.

They’ve even a Green programme for their guests. I’d love to know how many make use of it!

• Environmental stay package ‘Elements’ promotes all aspects of sustainable tourism and includes a 3hr walking tour, travelcard, bike hire, organic menus, biodynamic cocktails and a Green Butler
• Our Riverview Suites offer breathtaking panoramic views of the River Thames
• Sustainable walking tours with either Context Travel or Insider London, that highlight local
environmental areas of interest
• Volunteering clean-up events available with waterways conservation charity Thames21
• Calendar of events with London’s Capital Growth Programme for guests interested in horticulture
• Savoy’s Green Butler is on hand to offer advice on London’s best green restaurants, shops & attractions for the eco-conscious tourist
• Eco-Meet and Conferencing Option for event planners
• BMW bikes available for hire, jogging maps, nature walks, cycle routes and Royal Park details
• ‘Green Experience Map of London’ sponsored by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in partnership with VisitEngland

..................................................................................................................................................................

That’s it for this newsletter as none of us (at least no-one I know) have time to read stuff online. Any feedback is always appreciated , particularly regarding any sustainable actions and innovations you or your company have introduced. We at the NEWH are here to celebrate our successes in all aspects of our professional lives.

Caroline Banks

NEWH Director of Sustainability

For our full event calendar, please click here