Kelly-Marie Staunton, who has three degrees from the University of Central Lancashire, is working in her dream career as an Operations Manager at Stanneylands Hotel in Wilmslow.
During her time at University, Kelly-Marie worked seven days a week as a supervisor at The Daffodil Hotel and Spa in Ambleside. She also worked as an executive lounge host at the Hilton Hotel on Manchester’s Deansgate and as a front desk agent at Blackpool’s Hilton Hotel. Kelly-Marie always knew that working in hospitality and hotels was her career of choice.
In her final year of study, Kelly-Marie worked on placement in Nashville, in the United States of America. Talking about her experience studying abroad, she said: “I really enjoyed my year abroad and was interested to see how hospitality was conducted over there.”
After gaining a first-class degree in International Hospitality Management, Kelly-Marie won a place on the prestigious Marriott Graduate Voyage programme, which saw her travel to China immediately after Graduation to work as a Trainee Manager at the Marriott in Guangzhou, China.
Following a few years in China, Kelly-Marie moved back to the UK where she worked as a Guests Relations Executive at the five-star London Marriott Grosvenor Square before moving to a front of house role at the Hilton Westminster London. She then moved to Mottram Hall to work as Assistant Front of House Manager, before taking on her current role at Stanneylands.
Kelly-Marie’s hard work and determination has been recognised on several occasions. She was presented with the Marriott Hospitality Prize 2017 and claimed three Student Employee of the Year awards at institutional, regional and national level. Kelly-Marie was also awarded Member for the Institute of Hospitality and has recently been elected as Chair for the Diversity and Inclusion Future Forum within the Institute of Hospitality.
Since graduating from UCLan with her undergraduate degree, Kelly-Marie has completed the LLM in International Business Law at UCLan, where she worked on a research project regarding the importance of expats and how they benefit Marriott International. She has also graduated from a second UCLan master’s in North Korean Studies, after being awarded a highly competitive academic scholarship.
Speaking about her time at University, Kelly-Marie-Marie said:
"My degree has grown my confidence to interact with various people, and other cultures from the across the world. It has also challenged my abilities to pursue further education, and to work internationally."
— Kelly-Marie Staunton, BA (Hons), LLM, MA graduate
