March 4, 2013 - London, United Kingdom  - InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and the Oxford Brookes University’s School of Hospitality Management (OSHM) were the winners of the Partnership of the Year Award in the Institute of Risk Management’s (IRM) Global Risk Awards 2013.

In a glamorous Oscar’s-style event hosted by trend-spotter and futurologist Magnus Lindkvist at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London, the Global Risk Awards recognised and celebrated the world’s best risk management talent.

Leading risk management figures from 16 countries across five continents judged the final shortlist. Nominations were received from across the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

The Partnership of the Year Award looks to recognise partnerships whose work has set new standards in the field of risk management and has brought about tangible benefits. The award contestants included the Crossrail Project, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Group of Experts on Risk Management in Regulatory Systems, the MITIE Group - QBE partnership and the Parsons Brinkerhoff - SeRoN project.

IRM chief executive Steve Fowler said: “As the leading international educational institute in the field of risk management, IRM is uniquely placed to identify and reward outstanding performance. Our judges were astounded by the quality and range of entries received.”

The IHG-OSHM relationship started in 2006 with IHG’s John Ludlow’s participation in a study conducted by OSHM’s Dr Alexandros Paraskevas on crisis management and business continuity. It evolved over time, from student access to IHG’s risk executives and resources for their dissertations to active involvement of IHG’s risk team in the design and delivery of risk-management-related curriculum at OSHM. The next level of partnership included OSHM’s involvement in the IHG’s risk function with four ‘knowledge exchange’ projects (two of which were Knowledge Transfer Partnerships -KTPs- co-funded by the UK Technology Strategy Board and the Economic and Social Research Council) in the areas of business continuity, risk management performance monitoring, operational risk management and risk training. The outcomes of these projects set new standards in IHG’s risk management practice but were also shared with the wider industry through joint presentations in international industry/academia conferences.

Receiving the Award, John Ludlow, IHG’s Senior Vice President and Head of Global Risk Management said: “Our partnership with OSHM has always been about what each of us could give to the other institution, each gift of knowledge reciprocated time and time again. It soon became clear to both of us that, on the one hand, the industry needs academia to enhance its understanding of the business environment, to spark innovation and to develop tomorrow’s business leaders. And on the other, academia needs business to make its work relevant, fresh and engaging to students who want to join our industry.  I am very grateful to Alex not only for contributing to our risk management discipline at IHG but more so for the wonderful team of young talent that he has helped inspire and coach.”

Dr Alexandros Paraskevas, OSHM’s Senior Lecturer in Strategic Risk Management, added: “This Global Risk Award is the result of 7 years of collaboration between IHG’s incredible Risk Team around the world and an amazing bunch of young, bright researchers who are being developed to become the new generation of risk management leaders. Such collaborations require visionary leadership and strong work ethic, two attributes which are often scarce in the industry but abundant in John and his entire team.” And commenting on the partnership, he said: “Whether in the lecture theatre opening the minds of future managers to risk management thinking, in the office trying to develop innovative and more effective ways to manage risk or in the field addressing everyday risks and managing actual crises, this partnership has always been a unique privilege for all of us and should become the model for industry-academia collaboration.”

About IHG
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with nine hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, as well as our two newest brands, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™ Hotels & Resorts. IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 65 million members worldwide.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,500 hotels and more than 661,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories. With more than 1,000 hotels in its development pipeline, IHG expects to recruit around 90,000 people into additional roles across its estate over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.priorityclub.com for more on Priority Club Rewards.
For our latest news, visit www.ihg.com/media  www.twitter.com/ihgplc  www.facebook.com/ihg or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

About the Oxford School of Hospitality Management
The Oxford School of Hospitality Management is the leading European higher education institution in hospitality management. Part of Oxford Brookes University, the leading modern university in UK according to the Sunday Times University Guide, OSHM enjoys an international reputation for teaching excellence and innovation, as well as strong links with business and industry. The School is ranked number one in the UK for hospitality management education (Taylor Nelson, Sofres, 2011); top in Europe for hospitality research; and top in the world for research productivity (Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 2012).

Latest news and information on the Oxford School of Hospitality Management can also be found through the School's website http://hospitality.brookes.ac.uk/news/, https://twitter.com/brookesOSHM and http://www.youtube.com/user/brookesOSHM/videos

About the Institute of Risk Management
The Institute of Risk Management (IRM) is the world’s leading enterprise-wide risk education Institute advocating the risk profession. IRM passionately believes in the importance of risk management and that investment in education and continual professional development leads to more effective risk management. The Institute provides qualifications, short courses and events at a range of levels from introductory to expert.

IRM operates internationally, with members and students in over 100 countries, drawn from a variety of risk-related disciplines and a wide range of industries.

IRM qualified member grades (MIRM, CIRM and SIRM) are recognised worldwide as the sign of a qualified risk management professional and are achieved through examination and recognition of relevant prior learning. Fellowship (FIRM) follows through accredited practical experience.