Welcome, Choice Hotels Europe, to the Common Sense Club - that select but growing band of companies which have acknowledged the value of older employees.

The Quality Victoria Hotel in Bradford is part of this group which has launched a new recruitment drive under the title "Age is not our concern" to attract more employees from the over-50s group.

Two of the reasons are that more mature people are a lot less likely to leave after a year or so than younger people, and are less likely to fail to turn up for work.

Here's a quote from the director of human resources at Choice Hotels Europe, Brian Worthington, to give some confidence to those among the Who's Counting? crowd who might be seeking fresh employment. It might be worth cutting it out and attaching it to your CV, if appropriate.

"There are many benefits when employing from the over-50s. We have found that mature staff have more refined customer care skills and have greater confidence when dealing with guests and other staff. Their experience also helps to assist the development of our younger staff. Another serious consideration in targeting the over-50s has been the desire to reduce absenteeism in our workforce."

And he adds: "Our biggest challenge is to persuade older people that they really do have something to offer. Too often, people who have been out of the workplace for a number of years, whether because of redundancy or because they have been bringing up a family, have lost confidence in their own ability."

That, of course, is the result of many years in which employers have been obsessed with youth and have been only too ready to sideline or write off people once they reach the age of 50 or sometimes 40 or, in rare and extreme cases, even 30.

Legislation to outlaw age discrimination in jobs advertisements is all well and good but, as I pointed out the other week, it's examples - like that being set by Choice Hotels Europe and a few other companies - which will be most effective in changing attitudes.

l Last week, the two proud grandparents who inhabit Priestley Towers reported for their first baby-sitting duty, to enable daughter and son-in-law to spend a few hours in a restaurant away from nappies and feeds.

All was quiet throughout the evening. Grandson Samuel's behaviour was exemplary. Mum and dad came home relaxed and happy and we all settled down to sleep. Well, four of us did. Samuel had different ideas. He'd done his sleeping.

The following morning, at some ungodly hour, son-in-law and I were in the kitchen, looking weary. Because of fatigue, I probably wasn't as tactful as I could have been.

"At this age," I mused, "they keep you awake half the night with their crying. When they get to their teens they keep you awake half the night waiting for them to come home. You start to be able to sleep soundly when they're about 25."

"Thanks a lot for sharing that with me, Mike," said my son-in-law, with heavy irony.

No problem. What are father-in-laws for but to offer sagely advice and pearls of wisdom born of experience?

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.