David Cochrane, MBE, Chief Executive of the Hospitality Industry Trust Scotland. (HIT Scotland)
After commencing his career at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, David started working for Norfolk Capital Hotels. He then joined Gardner Merchant, now called Sodexo, as a chef manager, progressing to District Training Coordinator. This training experience led him into the Hotel and Catering Training Company, working with Youth Training and unemployment projects. He also undertook a Leonardo da Vinci European project to help implement Vocational Qualifications in Scottish prisons!
David was the Training Manager at the internationally renowned Gleneagles hotel. He discovered a passion for people development, and naturally, this led him to take on the role of Chief Executive of HIT Scotland.
In 2004, David was the recipient of the Industry Award for services to the hospitality sector in Scotland. Since working with HIT Scotland, the Trust has awarded over 5000 scholarships for the emerging talent of the industry and 14000 student bursaries.
David took part in the successful Kilimanjaro challenge in 2011, The Gran Paradiso Challenge in Italy in 2014 and the Great Wall of China Challenge in 2017! In 2012, he was awarded an honorary degree in International Hospitality Management from Glion Higher Institute of Education, and he was honoured with the Education and Training “Catey” UK award the same year. Later, in 2019, he organised another successful fundraising trek to Machu Picchu.
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and Strathclyde Business school. He was awarded an MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list 2020 for services to hospitality and tourism.