BII’s John Melia is first class

09-Oct-2007

 

John Melia CMBII, Client Development Director for BII, has gained a first class degree in International Hospitality Management from the University of Wolverhampton and also won The Poultry Industry Prize for the Highest Academic Achievement in Hospitality, presented by Alec Forsyth (see below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The starting point for John’s academic study was the BII Profitable Business Portfolio which he completed in 2004. Following this he was initially offered a place on a foundation degree but this was changed to a BA (Hons) programme due to his previous extensive experience in the hospitality industry. BII supported John in his studies by allowing him time off to attend university.

John Melia, said, “I am really proud of my achievement and very grateful for all the support from BII and Caroline Wiscombe from the University of Wolverhampton. It has been very hard working full time and doing the study, but it has been a very rewarding and fulfilling experience and has helped me to achieve a lifelong ambition. Not bad for a dunce who failed all his O Levels!

He added, “I undertook two pieces of particularly interesting work. I did an Independent Study module last year regarding Training Evaluation in the Pub Industry, which I hope will be published jointly with Caroline Wiscombe, Course Leader.

“My dissertation was on The Impact of the Beer Orders and I interviewed a number people from the industry who were really helpful, including Francis Patton, Peter Grieve, Mike Benner, Christopher Lees-Jones and Phil Dixon. It was fabulous to be able to tap in to such great contacts which ultimately helped me to achieve this result.”