France-based hospitality giant Accor is to expand its Accor Académie training network by announcing the launch of the service in the UK market.

Accor opened a new employee training campus in London today (21 June) and also announced a new apprenticeship scheme, an "into-work" programme and a university placement scheme as part of a major investment into the group's HR programme and significant job creation in the sector.

The opening of the UK site means that Accor Académie now operates in 72 countries. First launched in 1985, the Académie delivers more than 435,000 days of training a year (an average of three days per employee) and invests around 45m euro (US$57m, £36m) per annum in training employees.

In 2011, more than 145,000 group employees were trained through modules adapted to the specific local challenges of each country and covering more than 100 hotel industry jobs.

Sophie Flak, executive vice president of sustainable development and Académie at Accor, said: "Today, more than ever, identifying, developing and retaining talented people is a crucial guarantee for Accor's strategy of conquest. With 40,000 new rooms every year, our mission is to train our employees on the ground, where they work.

"The Académie Accor therefore offers an increasingly varied mix of training approaches brought together under the name "blended learning". We train all our employees, whether they work in owned, managed or franchised hotels, face-to-face or remotely, via e-learning modules or virtual classrooms".