Networking

A RISING FORCE

Carl Weldon, Chief Executive of BAHA – British Association of Hospitality Accountants – charts the 40-year rise of an organisation now firmly at the centre of what hospitality is about. From Finance to IT to Revenue Management, BAHA represents some of the key disciplines of a fast-changing industry.

In 2009, BAHA – British Association of Hospitality Accountants – celebrated its 40th birthday. In that time, the Association has come a very long way. Created and launched in 1969 as the ‘British Association of Hotel Accountants’, it took two years for the Association to reach its first milestone – the recruitment of 100 members. This was remarkable, given that in those days there was no email or mobile phones through which to contact and network! Today, BAHA has nearly 1,000 members and is growing rapidly – having recently expanded its remit to include the associated disciplines of Information Technology (IT) and Revenue Management within the hospitality profession.

‘Hotel Accountant’

Back in 1969, the very first edition of BAHA’s ‘Hotel Accountant’ publication was published –a black and white quarterly six-page document which, by today’s standards, was all the more impressive since then there were no PCs or Desktop Publishing to aid production! Today, that publication – with the help of new technology, has grown into the popular and colourful BAHA Times magazine which is published ten times a year.

1971 was not just significant for BAHA achieving 100 members, it was also the year that the Heath Government introduced Value Added Tax (VAT), which presented the Association with its first major opportunity to help the UK hospitality industry at large. This BAHA duly did through the publication of its widely acclaimed ‘Hotel Guide to Introduction of VAT’.

Breakthrough in education

Amongst its many achievements over the years, an undoubted highlight came in 1985 with BAHA’s major breakthrough in hospitality education. That year, the Association was responsible for the introduction of the first ever hospitality industry-specific finance qualification: the BAHA Education and Training Programme (ETP). Today, this is more popular than ever – with accreditation from CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) and the Open University. Top students on the ETP course are recognised each year at the BAHA Annual Christmas Awards Lunch in London – a top prestigious industry gathering where there is also recognition for three key industry awards, reflecting the current interests of the BAHA membership, for: Hospitality Accountant, IT Professional, and Revenue Manager of the Year.

‘Valuation of Hotels’

The next milestone came in 1993, which saw the publication by BAHA of the first ever guide to ‘Valuation of Hotels’ – produced by an outstanding committee of BAHA experts at that time – and still in demand today!

BAHA has made a major input in to the hospitality industry through its ‘Recommended Practice Guides’ – perhaps nowhere more so than through ‘A Guide to the Use and Interpretation of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI) – Tenth Revised Edition’. In recent years, BAHA has continued to promote discussion and practice through its guides to USALI – one of the most important financial management tools available to the hotel industry and one of only three worldwide industry specific reporting standards.The latest BAHA Guide complements the Tenth Revised Edition of the ‘Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging industry’. Another good example was the publication in 2008 of the Association’s guide to ‘Customer Profitability Analysis for Hotels’ – a strategic and analytical application for the hotel profession, which is now being used worldwide.

IT and Revenue Management

With BAHA currently zeroing in on 1,000 members – the highest in its history – the Association has developed to include the associated disciplines of Information Technology (IT) and Revenue Management within Hospitality.

IT has been originally associated with the finance function within the hospitality industry for some time. In 2007, with this in mind, BAHA agreed a Strategic Partnership with our US counterpart – Texas-based HFTP (Hospitality Finance and Technology Professionals). This has greatly enhanced the IT content and discussion in the UK over the past five years – in particular at our increasingly influential and popular BAHA Annual Conference and IT Exhibition, inaugurated in 2006. Today, BAHA promotes relevant discussions of Hospitality IT – as a board level topic in its own right – in such key areas as: IT Investment, PCI Compliance and latest technology trends for guests, by flying in experts from as far afield as the USA and Australia for key debates at the Annual Conference – an event which, in 2010, attracted a record 365 delegates, session presenters, and IT exhibitors.

Revenue Management has had a place in BAHA since 2006 – and BAHA held the first of its Revenue Management debates in 2008 – now an annual feature on the members’ meetings programme, where a panel and audience will vigorously debate ‘for and against’ a key Revenue Management motion of the day. The ‘BAHA Hospitality Revenue Management Community’ (HRMC) was officially founded in 2010 and, with its steering committee, will continue to promote the discipline of revenue management within BAHA.

In time, Revenue Management and IT will also be served by an equivalent ETP programme and qualification, similar to the BAHA Finance ETP – while the debates and discussions on these key areas will be led by the two new committees, within the Association, created to serve the needs of our new members in these two fields.

Conference and exhibition

Like IT, the highest profile BAHA stage for debating and airing revenue management and general hospitality finance issues and developments is the BAHA Annual Conference and IT Exhibition, held every November. This highly prestigious event follows the successful HITEC model with specific industry discussion and speakers, key topic panel debates, and extensive educational workshop sessions – all with the opportunity to review ‘best-in-class’ IT solutions at the accompanying exhibition, and meet worldwide experts in our profession.

The benefits

Membership benefits of joining BAHA include:

• BAHA Times, published ten times a year – either the paper publication, PDF or electronic E-book
• including latest industry bench-marking data reports
• specific industry updates and solutions articles
• special provision of other key industry publications such as Hospitality Upgrade, SmartReport and HFTP’s Bottom Line
• regular Members’ Meetings – the most recent being on the hot topic of ‘Social Media in Hospitality’
• access to the educational programmes and including the Professional Educational Programme for continuing (senior) professional development
• the opportunity to professionally update through specialist professional Educational programmes
• discounted special access and information on the key BAHA Events such as the Annual Conference and IT Exhibition (see www.bahaconference.co.uk and www.youtube.com/BAHAUKTV)
• the opportunity to apply for industry recognition awards and scholarships
• access to BAHA LinkedIn Group discussions
• senior level access to special Director level events
• access to job opportunities specific to the professions within the Industry and their specialist recruitment companies
• the opportunity to see, review and experience specific industry IT systems and solutions all in one place, and
• most importantly – the opportunity to meet, network, debate and relate to others within the same industry and professional discipline, who may well have similar problems!

BAHA continues to grow through setting agendas and topic discussions as well as reviews – developed for and by its own members – demonstrating that it is never too late to become involved with your own industry!

BAHA appointed Carl Weldon as CEO in March 2005. The Association now enjoys record membership levels, is in financial surplus and has recorded five successful (ever growing attendances) conferences and also achieved record attendances at its Annual Awards Lunch event which receives world-wide coverage in the industry.  Carl Weldon has been in Hospitality Finance and Operations for 30 years, starting with Forte Hotels in 1978, and subsequently joining Holiday Inns International (HII), Periquito Hotels, Virgin Hotels, Regal Hotel Group and finally the Noble House Group of pubs and restaurants. Carl is also principal of his own consultancy business, CWS Hospitality. To find out more about BAHA, visit their website on www.baha.co.uk.