profile
Suranga Hewagamage Opportunities for training at Empire
S
uranga Hewagamage was born in Sri Lanka and came to Australia in 1999 to complete a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree course after successfully completing an Advanced Diploma in Marketing back in Sri Lanka. He is currently the Housekeeping Operations Manager for Empire Hospitality, a successful outsourcing company which operates the Housekeeping departments at the Oaks group of hotels, the Ascott International Group, and soon the Stamford Plaza (starting on 6th of September2010) in Melbourne. He is responsible for approximately 900 rooms and 150 staff covering 4 properties in the CBD. Suranga has been working in Housekeeping for over ten years and like many successful hospitality personnel started his career as a casual minibar attendant at the Metro Inn Melbourne whilst studying business administration at Victoria University. Suranga moved to the Ibis Little Bourke as a team leader after one year and then joined A.M Hospitality Services at the Somerset on Elizabeth which is part of the Ascott International group of Hotels, as Assistant Housekeeper in 2003. When the Executive Housekeeper left at the end of 2003 he was promoted to the position of Executive Housekeeper where he stayed until 2005 when he was transferred to the Somerset Gordon Place, also part of Ascott International. He joined Empire Hospitality at the end of 2005 to be part of the pre-opening team at the Oaks on Collins, the first Oaks apartment hotel in Melbourne and soon after opened the Oaks on Market in 2006 and Oaks on Lonsdale in 2007 and has just completed the opening of the new 380 room Citadines Melbourne on Bourke St ahead of schedule.
companies, the Executive Housekeeper is “it� and must recruit and train staff, manage the budget, control stock and equipment without the assistance of others. Being part of an outsourced company, he sees first hand the impact of the global financial recession both in his role and in that of the hotel, with an increased need for all to be financially prudent in rostering and training whilst still maintaining positive relationships with all departments so that service to the guest is not diminshed. He loves the opportunities afforded to him by Empire Hospitality who support him by allowing all staff to be trained in Certificate III in Housekeeping. Suranga is himself currently studying for Certificate IV both in Housekeeping and Training and Assessment. He is a member of The P.E.H.N. (Vic) and is looking forward to implementing some green initiatives into the workplace in the near future. Suranga is an only child but tries to visit his parents in Sri Lanka every six months. He loves Australia and is deeply involved with the Sri Lankan community in Melbourne. He loves to drive around Australia in his free time discovering new places and also enjoys reading (all the lost property books!). He is planning further study for the future. n
Suranga loves the everyday challenges Housekeeping presents and enjoys dealing with all guests and staff. He describes his learning experience at the Somerset properties as tough but rewarding. As with many outsourcing
The Executive Housekeeper
| Vol 14 No. 2 |
43