His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent KG is to open the newly-restored Wivenhoe House hotel, home of the Edge Hotel School, the UK’s first hotel school where degree-level students combine their studies with work in a commercial luxury hotel.

The official opening of Wivenhoe House and the Edge Hotel School in Colchester will take place on Thursday 20 September.

A partnership between the University of Essex, its academic partner Kaplan, and the Edge Foundation, the Edge Hotel School is where the future leaders of the hospitality industry will learn their profession. The first students arrived in June and July, allowing them to be involved in opening a new hotel.

They are studying for fast-track two year degrees in hotel management and culinary management, learning by doing through combining academic study with working in all areas of the hotel and restaurants, supervised by leading industry professionals. The hotel school curriculum has been developed in collaboration with employers and industry leaders and with industry needs in mind.

The eighteenth century Wivenhoe House, which was painted by John Constable, has undergone a £10 million-plus refurbishment, restoring it to its Georgian and Victorian grandeur.

The Duke of Kent will meet representatives of the three partners involved in establishing the Edge Hotel School as well as a number of students. General Manager of Wivenhoe House Stephen Mannock, assisted by students, will escort HRH on a tour of the hotel. HRH will then unveil a commemorative plaque, before having lunch in the hotel’s Signatures Restaurant, prepared by Executive Chef Paul Boorman.