Rocco Forte Hotels’ Lydia Forte joins Gold Service Scholarship board of trustees

Lydia Forte, group director of food and beverage at Rocco Forte Hotels, has joined the board of trustees at the Gold Service Scholarship.

She joins founding chairman Alastair Storey, trustee and chair of judges Edward Griffiths, secretariat David Battersby and others, including Silvano Giraldin, Sergio Rebecchi, Thomas Knochs, Alessandro Fasoli and Knut Wylde.

Forte will support the trustees’ oversight of the industry’s only scholarship for front of house professionals, as well as participating in the competition’s judging process, mentoring entrants and offering career advice.

Forte, who is the daughter of Sir Rocco Forte, is currently in charge of the Rocco Forte Hotels’ food and beverage portfolio.

In recent years, she has been responsible for the creation of a healthy eating programme at the hotel: Rocco Forte Nourish.

She started her career in hospitality as a waitress at Hix in London’s Soho and later became assistant manager of the Markham Inn in London’s Chelsea.

Forte said: “I’ve always been passionate about restaurants, particularly delivering fantastic service and interacting with guests. I look forward to working with my fellow trustees on how we can inspire the next generation of service professionals and show young people the opportunities a career in hospitality can offer, as well as support and develop them to reach their full potential.”

Storey added: “On behalf of the entire board, we warmly welcome Lydia Forte as our newest trustee. We look forward to the expertise Lydia will bring to the board as we look to continue to build on the successes of the last 10 years.”

The Gold Service Scholarship was launched in 2012 and is open to anyone aged between 22 and 28 who works full-time in front of house food and beverage service in the UK.

The latest Gold Service Scholar, Jupiter Humphrey-Bishop, a footman at the Royal Household, was announced this February.