The brightest and best employers in the hospitality industry joined together this week to celebrate outstanding achievements in recruitment, retention and development, which saw The Dorchester, Five Guys and Marston’s among those recognised for their successes.
The 2019 Caterer.com People Awards were attended by over 500 of the industry’s top professionals at the Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge, whilst the winners were unveiled by comedian Rob Beckett.
The past twelve months have proved challenging for the hospitality sector and the awards reinforced the positive message that employers within it continue to ensure they offer some of the most rewarding careers available.
Every business recognised by the 2019 Caterer.com People Awards has acknowledged the need to change perceptions around jobs in hospitality, to stop talent passing it off as a temporary and unambitious career choice. Recent research by Caterer.com found that 97% of school children and leavers would not choose a hospitality career, due to misconceptions around working environments and prospects.
Neil Pattison, Sales Director for Caterer.com said, ‘As the entries to our awards clearly demonstrate, good hospitality employees must be retained and developed in ever more creative ways. The search for talent now goes beyond traditional hospitality territory. Employers are engaging young people, older workers, school pupils and their families, those with disability and those who need to find a foothold in life, such as homeless individuals and reformed offenders. Future employees are inside the industry, but importantly they are outside it too… and we need to reach them, as a sector, together’.
Big winners on the night, Dishoom, won both the Learning and Development and the Launch Campaign awards, demonstrating their drive to reach out to potential recruits and then provide the highest levels of training.
Gordon McIntyre, City of Glasgow College, and founder of mental health charity Hospitality Health, received the Ambassador of the Year award for his work in engaging employers in supporting their employees wellbeing, and his tireless promotion of the industry as a great place to work.
A highlight of the evening was the inclusion of three aspiring young chefs, each alumni of the Springboard Futurechef programme; Jessica Mitchell, Catrin Manning and Ray Gardner, who joined Park Plaza’s Head Chef Oliver Ruiz in preparing the fantastic awards dinner. Each young chef received a £500 career development grant from Caterer.com to invest in hospitality skills workshops or courses.
