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If you’ve ever sat through a hospitality training course that looked great on paper, but didn’t quite translate back to your job in the workplace, you’ll understand exactly why Direction Training Associates exists.
I caught up with Jenni Clarke, Direction Training’s Learning and Development Partner, to learn about their journey, philosophy and where they are heading next.
From Hotel to Training Rooms
I started by asking Jenni how the organisation got started, and she explained that Direction Training was founded by Judith Clarke, following a career that spanned both operational and training roles across the hospitality sector. Having worked in hotels of all sizes, from independent SMEs to internationally recognised five-star properties, Judith developed a deep, first-hand understanding of how hospitality businesses really operate and what their people need to perform at their best.
Jenni went on to say that alongside Judith’s operational experience, she became heavily involved in industry-wide training and standards initiatives.
Through her work with the Best Practice Forum and the Hospitality Skills Alliance, she delivered programmes for the Profit Through Productivity initiative and managed and trained assessors for the Excellence Through People and AIM accreditations. She also assessed venues for the HRS Hotel Awards and contributed to the development of value-added learning within hospitality apprenticeships.
It was quite evident that Judith had exceptional qualities for starting a training business, but I was keen to find out what why she started Direction Training. Jenni said “the company was founded to bring this blend of real-world operational insight, practical training expertise and industry level perspective into one place, offering learning that is relevant, credible and genuinely useful for hospitality businesses and their teams”. That ethos is still reflected today in their tagline: Written and designed by operators, for operators.
What Makes Direction Different?
Many hospitality training businesses start with good intentions and have a genuine desire to “meet a need,” but then don’t succeed. So I wanted to know what makes Direction Training different and what makes it the successful training company it is today. Jenni said, “We address a common challenge in hospitality and service-led organisations; learning that looks good on paper but fails to translate into confident behaviour, a clear understanding and improved performance on the job”.
Jenni went on to explain that all too often, training is generic, disconnected from real operational pressures or treated as a tick box exercise. This leaves teams underprepared, managers unsure how to support development and organisations struggling to see a meaningful return on their investments in learning.
Direction set out to solve this by designing practical, experience-led learning that is rooted in real working environments. As Jenni puts it, “We help remove the barriers that prevent people from developing, whether that’s a lack of confidence, clarity, capability or opportunity and create learning that builds skills teams can actually use. The result is stronger people, better performance and learning that genuinely sticks”.
Three words stood out for me during chatting with Jenni; authentic, transparent and trustworthy, which seemed to be at the heart of everything they do.
What does Direction Training Offer?
Direction Training’s mission and core values came across very clearly; they exist to help people unlock their potential through learning that removes barriers, builds confidence and opens doors to growth that individuals may not yet be able to unlock on their own. They believe learning plays a powerful role in enabling people to progress, not by telling them what to do, but by giving them the tools, insight and confidence to move forward. So how do they do this?
Jenni explained that they deliver a blended suite of learning and development solutions, designed to support hospitality and service-led organisations at every stage of their people journey. This spans:
- Strategic development consultancy, where they partner with organisations to design effective learning strategies, capability frameworks and development plans aligned to real business needs.
- Bespoke development programmes, including tailored workshops, modules, and face-to-face solutions built around specific organisational goals.
- Coaching and mentoring, providing focused support for individuals and teams to drive behaviour change and strengthen leadership capability.
All the above are complemented by their e-learning portfolio, specifically designed for hospitality environments and support teams across hotels, food service, leisure, and guest-facing operations. This digital learning delivers flexible, accessible online learning across key operational and leadership topics, allowing teams to learn anytime, anywhere.
While hospitality remains their core specialism, their face-to-face training and consultancy work now supports a wide range of service-led organisations facing similar people and leadership challenges. Jenni was keen to stress that across all of their services, the focus remains the same: practical, relevant learning grounded in real operational experience, designed so that development can be applied directly and confidently in the workplace.
Quality You Can Trust
Quality really matters! It was evident when chatting with Jenni and also from feedback from customers who have completed their training:
“The range, content and industry focused training materials represent an excellent suite of accredited training materials and resources for hospitality and tourism trainers and operational professionals”
Centre for Competitiveness, Exec Director
The quality of their online training suite of courses is independently endorsed by the Institute of Hospitality, the professional body for hospitality worldwide, whose endorsement reflects alignment with recognised industry standards and provides enhanced CPD recognition across their programmes.
“The development resources use the extensive knowledge and understanding of the owner in structuring and developing the online approach. The approach taken in developing this set of programmes is essentially instructional. This is clearly deliberate and does provide a strong level of content detail with the appropriate explanation as to the “why” these points are important in achieving a high professional standard.”
Institute of Hospitality
When asked about the instructional design and content of the Direction online learning, Jenni said, “All of our courses are written and designed by people with real operational and training experience. This ensures learning is not only accurate and current but also grounded in the realities of working environments, practical, relevant and immediately applicable”.
Jenni went on to say that their content combines sector best practice with engagement-focused instructional design, helping learners understand not just what to do, but why it matters and how to apply it day to day. This approach ensures that the learning remains credible, meaningful and effective for teams at every level of an organisation.
Partnerships That Matter
“Direction is proud to collaborate with organisations that share their commitment to raising standards, developing people and delivering learning that makes a genuine difference”, said Jenni. As well as the Institute of Hospitality, Direction Training partners with a number of high-profile organisations, such as eHotelier, The Goring Hotel and Best Western Hotels.
Jenni explained that their partnership with eLearning Marketplace and Core Learning Services, which supply their hospitality online training, enables courses to reach hospitality professionals both in the UK and internationally. “These relationships allow us to extend the impact of our learning while maintaining the practical, operator-led approach Direction is known for”, said Jenni.
Looking Ahead
As we neared the end of our chat, I wanted to find out about the company’s plans for the future. Jenni spoke enthusiastically of entering an exciting phase of growth and development. In 2026, the company will be expanding their consultancy offering and in-person delivery, alongside continuing to evolve its e-learning portfolio. A key focus is the further development of their compliance suite and preparing to launch their new Professional Foundation Certificate in Wine and Champagne. This sounded like an interesting and innovative development, so I was keen to learn more about the Foundation Certificate. “It’s designed to both deepen the knowledge of wine for individuals and build their confidence in professional service skills”, said Jenni. She went on to say, “The programme is endorsed by The Institute of Hospitality and offers learners a recognised and structured pathway to build their understanding and serves as a foundation for advancing further qualifications in the wine industry”.
Looking ahead, Direction Training plans to expand its product knowledge courses, broadening its scope from purely B2B provision to include B2C access for individuals seeking CPD-focused learning. “This reflects our ongoing commitment to accessible, high-quality development for professionals at every stage of their career”, said Jenni.
Final Thoughts
Direction Training isn’t about flashy buzzwords or one-size-fits-all solutions. It’s about honest, practical learning that helps people feel more confident, perform better and grow in their careers.
And after more than 30 years in the industry, that simple, human approach seems to be working pretty well.
Author: Carolyn Lewis
