International corporate speaker Lynda King Taylor will be in Inverness on Thursday (June 21) to deliver a 'masterclass' on achieving excellent customer service in the tourism and hospitality industries.

Recognised as one of Scotland's foremost experts on customer service, Lynda will share her views and experience at the event - called 'Excellence on a Plate,' - to be held in the city's award winning Abstract Restaurant.

The spotlight will also be on two Highland businesses that have recently succeeded in achieving accreditation from Hospitality Assured - the Standard for Service and Business Excellence in the hospitality industry.

Representatives of Nairn Dunbar Golf Club and The Sunninghill Hotel, Elgin, will be presented with certificates and plaques marking their success.

James Gibbs, area director HIE Inverness and East Highland said: "HIE Inverness and East Highland is delighted to sponsor this important event which will broadcast enthusiasm to improve service provision across the region."

It is the second year running Excellence on a Plate has been held and it is back by popular demand. The four-hour masterclass is already a sell-out. The event has been organised by Quality Scotland - a not-for profit organisation that promotes excellence in business. HIE Inverness and East Highland has provided sponsorship in partnership with The Right Direction, an industry-led group based in the Highlands and Islands with the remit of promoting excellent service.

Lynda, who has been described as 'inspirational, funny and, most noticeably, a dynamic speaker,' has written extensively on customer relationship management and appears regularly on the speaker and conference circuit worldwide. She has worked extensively with organisations from the tourism and hospitality sectors including South African Tourist Board, Hilton, Scandic Hotels and many airlines including Emirates and Cathay Pacific. Her work covers all aspects of customer/community relationships and diversity management and advising organisations on achieving excellence through global best practice.

Among the topics she plans to explore in her masterclass are 'Winning hearts and minds of customers, visitors, tourists and staff;' and 'Seeing Through the eyes of the Visitor;' as well as 'Bringing Folk to the Highlands and Islands who say WOW to winning service;' and 'Listen, what does the visitor really want?'.

In addition she will be interviewing individuals from five leading Highland organisations who have excelled in different ways - The Three Chimneys Restaurant in Skye, Cairngorm Mountain, The Thistle Hotel in Inverness, Trafford Bank Guest House, Inverness and The Lovat Arms Hotel in Fort Augustus.

So renowned is the Three Chimneys Restaurant that customers have been know to fly up from the south and charter a helicopter to Skye just for a meal there.

Cairngorm Mountain has been admired for its creativity and imagination in finding new avenues of business to compensate for a downturn in snowbased leisure activities. An Investor in People (IIP) it is also known for the care it takes of its staff.

The Thistle Hotel in Inverness has been praised for its innovative work in introducing school pupils at an early age to the hospitality industry.

The Lovat Arms Hotel is known for its green credentials with a revolutionary new water system which uses an eco-friendly biomass wood chip burner. And the Trafford Bank Guest House has won awards for its customer service.

Meanwhile around 175 businesses in the Highlands are already accredited or working towards the Hospitality Assured standard which generally takes up to 24 months to achieve, Nairn Dunbar Golf Club and the Sunninghill Hotel in Elgin are the two latest establishments to win the award and their success will be recognised at next week's event. Hospitality Assured has been endorsed by the British Quality Foundation and Quality Scotland Foundation as meeting the criteria in the EFQM Business Excellence Model.