Brief description of company's business
Clarks Group of Hotel (U.P.Hotels) is a well established name in Hospitality Industry in India, which was started by late Shri Brijpal Das Ji way back in 1949, having more than 100 years of experience of trading of Jewellery, Textile and International Trading. To expand its business of Hotels a new company was incorporated in February 1961in the name of U.P.Hotels Limited. The first five star hotel of India was registered by U.P.Hotels Limited in 1962;Hotel Clarks Shiraz of 237 rooms, near the Taj Mahal in Agra.Therafter 2 five star hotels were opened in Jaipur of 216 rooms and in Lucknow of 100 rooms in the year 1973.Hotel Clarks Khajuraho of 105 rooms came up in 1998 at Khajuraho. As on date the company owns and manages 5 five star hotels in Agra, Lucknow, Jaipur and Khajuraho & Varanasi under the brand “Clarks” which is also owned by U.P.Hotels Limited. (For details visit www.hotelclarks.com)

Company also promoted a new company in the name of Great Value Hotels Ltd. on the concept of taking hotels on license basis and running it with its own team of experts and experienced people. Besides this the company also started two companies in the name and style of CLARKS BRIJ HOTEL INDIA (P) LIMITED & CLARKS INN which takes hotels on management contract basis and has already three hotels in Sahibabad, Gorakhpur and Goa in its fold. The Clarks Group of Hotels has also launched a home-stay programme, ‘Jaipur Pride project’ in Jaipur and Delhi with an objective of helping inclusive growth by distributing the wealth of tourism to larger scheme of society. It is the first branded, standardized home stay.

Hotel Clarks Amer has defined a benchmark of fine living and has expressed high standards in the art of hospitality in Jaipur, Rajasthan and other parts of India. It has retained the spirit and charm of the traditions of India and has blended these with the latest technology that the industry has to offer. U.P.Hotels Ltd. has the plans of expanding its business of hotels at Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Delhi & Mumbai and increasing its presence from existing 11 to 30 locations shortly.

(I) Clarks Centre of Excellence (CCE)

Clarks Centre of Excellence has been established with an objective to provide an opportunity to weaker sections of the society to evolve into trained hotel professionals without charging them any fees/remuneration, thereby improving their standard of living; to fulfill the increasing quality manpower requirements and improve the industry’s operational performance; and to complement the nation’s objective of providing excellent hospitality and tourism experience to tourists from India and abroad.
Clarks Centre for Excellence offers the Professional Hotel Education (PHE) Programmes which has two variants-- Diploma in Professional Hotel Education: 3 Years full time, and Certificate in Professional Hotel Education: 1 Year full time. 
 The eligibility for the courses is  (10+2) with good command over English.  And the important features are:

• NO FEES charged from students!
• On-the-job training programme(s)
• 100% employment opportunity
• Stipend paid to students to cover expenses
• Uniforms, free meals, medical facilities provided

(II)  Adoption of ITI under PPP
 
The Hotel has signed an MoA as Industry Partner to upgrade the All Women ITI, Alwar, under “Upgradation of  1396 Government ITI’s through Public Private Partnership”.  The mission is: “To create a learning environment designed to foster employable knowledge to citizens below poverty line in order to improve their quality of life and facilitate sustainable, equitable, and inclusive growth of India.” 
The ITI has 5-6 trades, with approximately 100 students, ranging between 16-35 years.  The status of the students is that about 22% are married and 78% unmarried; with 77% being from Alwar proper and the remaining 23% from rural areas.
The Institute Management Committee of the ITI which is chaired by the Executive Director of Clarks
 is leading the process of upgradation in the ITI in terms of providing guidance in terms of identifying and proposing the relevant trades to be conducted (for eg. Computer Operator & Programming Asst., Fashion Technology, Interior Decoration & Designing, Front Office Asst., Embroidery & Needle work, Hair & Skin Care)
 , understanding the requirement of new equipments and machines and sanctioning the same, facilitating industrial visit of students for exposure, conceiving the need for a library and acquiring the resources, to name a few.         

(III) Support to ‘Help in Suffering’  (HIS)
     
 Clarks provides support to HIS, which is an animal welfare organisation (NGO).  HIS has assisted in the establishment of new shelters and Animal Birth Control programmes in Kota, Kathmandu, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Vishakapatnam, Ajmer, Delhi, Jodhpur and Silvasa.  Five major projects of HIS are related to camels, elephants, equine, ABC (animal birth control) and immunization against rabies.  Over the past decade, this project has trained countless veterinarians, vet students and technicians, shelter managers and others in humane surgical techniques as well as in overall humane animal control methods. The program has improved the standards of animal surgery and post-operative care as well.  The project has also been a shining example of how vaccination/sterilization programs can succeed in eradicating the incidence of rabies in both the street dog and human populations.  It is commendable that during last 3 years there have been no registered cases of rabies in the city of Jaipur.
(IV)  Support to ‘Faith’
   
Clarks provides support to ‘Faith’, and NGO which runs an orphanage for HIV affected children.  The children are provided nutritious, and hygienically cooked lunch from Clarks every day; besides basic amenities like mattresses, bed sheets, towels, etc.

(V)  Support to Phagi schools

The Hotel provides mid-day meals to approximately 100 students of two primary schools in Phagi villagi, viz., Rajiv Gandhi Prathamic Shala, Bagriyon-ki-Dhani and Rajiv Gandhi Prathmic Shala, Bhilon-ki-Dhani.  Clarks also provide the students with study material and uniforms.

Other Initiatives:

Environment Consciousness& Responsiveness—Clarks has initiated a number of steps to ensure environment protection:
• The water treatment plant processes the water from sewerage, bathtubs, laundry, and kitchen, and the same is utilized for watering the gardens.
• Solar panels of 2500 litres are used for producing hot water which are supplied to the rooms in the Hotel.
• In cold storage and deep freezers, the earlier 12 HP electrical motor has been replaced by technologically advanced 2 HP motor, and they are operated with water from the cooling tower.
•  The elevators are now upgraded to electronic panels, which use just 1 motor of 30 HP, rather than the earlier 2 motors of 33 HP each.
• CFL bulbs are being used throughout the building which are more energy efficient.
• The 14 penthouses have been constructed using biodegradable bricks, thereby conserving environment.
• Certifications--Clarks is an ISO 9001-2000 certified Hotel complying with the necessary quality management systems (QMS), accredited by QSI America Inc.  It is the first 5 star deluxe hotel in Jaipur to have received this certification.  The same agency also certified Clarks as ISO 14001-2004 compliant, for hospitality including event management.
• Support to ‘Taabar’—Clarks also supports the Taabar project which is for sick, infected, oppressed, sexually assaulted and problematic street children residing in slums, pavements, and around railway stations.  They are counseled by volunteers from Taabar regarding HIV/ AIDS, besides providing medical facilities, psychological and economic support. 
• Reaching Beyond—Clarks cares not just for the employees but also for their family members.  A team the official doctor, and representatives from department of HR visit the workers families to enquire about their well-being, and identify any problems the family members may be facing, for eg. eye operation of spouse, career counselling of daughter, to name a few.  The team then recommends relevant cases to Management, which provides adequate support.
• Scholarship Scheme—The top Management of Clarks provides scholarship to all school-going children of workers, with marks above 60%.  From standard I-V they receive Rs. 125 per month, and from VI to X they receive Rs. 150 per month.  This year, there are 92 beneficiaries from the same.
• International Airport Landscaping—Clarks has been entrusted with developing, landscaping, beautifying, and maintaining the Greenfield by Airport Authority of India at the new International Airport at Jaipur.