Meet the finalists: Best Pub Employer (501+ employees) sponsored by Matthew Clark

Greene King ​

With more than 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels in locations across England, Wales and Scotland, Greene King operates managed, tenanted, leased and franchised pubs from its headquarters in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

It has recently shaken up its culture, putting its people right at the fore and employee feedback at the core.

Examples of this include the launch of a new maternity leave policy as well as a package of support, designed to support women before they go on maternity leave and help make the transition back in to work easier.

As part of its inclusion and diversity strategy, the business has four employee volunteer-led groups, each chaired by an executive board member.

Its women inclusion group Greene Sky played an integral role in influencing the change and in the design and development of its maternity policy.

The business has made commitments including expanding its apprenticeship offer to support 5,000 new apprentices by 2025.

It is also looking to recruit 300 more prison leavers into roles by the same time through its Releasing Potential programme.

Stonegate Group​

The largest pub company in the UK, Stonegate Group has more than 4,500 sites ranging from leased and tenanted to managed.

Its brands include Popworld, Slug & Lettuce and Be At One in its managed arm, alongside Craft Union and Vixen Pub Company as well as its leased and tenanted estate.

As one of the biggest employers in the industry, Stonegate has more than 16,000 team members to look after with its strong reputation for its learning and development credentials being something to behold.

It puts a huge amount of emphasis on people development, training and skills and its wide range of development initiatives have been rightly applauded over the years.

Stonegate business prides itself on investment in its people as part of its award-winning internal progression programmes starting with its bar to boardroom philosophy Albert’s Theory of Progression, which leads into management roles.

The business celebrates success in a number of ways including an inaugural awards ceremony.

Stonegate’s reward scheme includes private healthcare, cheap cinema deals, gym discounts and an employee assistance programme.