This year’s finalists are:
Coaching Inn Group
Coaching Inn Group’s founder and CEO Kevin Charity handed the reins to RedCat CEO Richard Lewis in March last year, after 28 years building his family of inns where he instilled a philosophy of ‘people over process’.
Concerns the 35-strong estate would lose this philosophy without Charity driving it have so far remained unfounded, with a strong scaffold erected across the business to ensure it retains its people-focus.
An enhanced onboarding programme, designed to immerse new team members in values, culture and standards from day one; updates to Innspire, its in-house training scheme and the introduction of Inn’tuition Leadership Development Programme to help develop ‘GMs of the future’ are just some of the initiatives Coaching Inn Group has introduced in the last year to aid the support and growth of its team. Retention of initiatives like the junior board – allowing views from across the business to be heard and acted on – and its roaming team cement its position as a top employer.
Leading these initiatives is Lee Melton under the new title of chief people officer, who has bolstered his training team with three new members, while Charity’s son Adam, appointed chief operating officer following his father’s departure, provides support and leadership.
Supporting the 1,300 team members at all levels is of utmost importance at Coaching Inn Group. ‘Family and wellbeing are at the heart of what we do’ says Melton and the working environment and benefits offered show they mean it.
Access to Hospitality Action’s EAP, a Health and Wellbeing Grant, enhanced maternity and paternity pay, three months of free nappies for new parents and a paid day off for a child’s first day of school are some of the benefits available with rewards including the Stay for £1 offer and 50% off food, drink and accommodation.
Hall & Woodhouse
Brewer Hall & Woodhouse first opened pubs in the 19th century so it had somewhere to sell the beers it brewed at its Dorset brewery. Today, however, its pubs serve as more than a retailer for Fursty Ferret and Tanglefoot.
Notably, Hall & Woodhouse’s 54-managed houses (supported by head office at its brewery) provide employment for 1,400 members of staff, who do a great job of selling Badger beers while also looking after their guests.
The business, meanwhile, does the job of caring for its team. A Real Living Wage employer since 2021, Hall & Woodhouse prides itself on providing a supportive environment for its employees, offering progression for those who want it, as well as a pool of benefits – from an EAP with the Licensed Trade Charity and private health insurance, to gifted birthday leave.
It has worked hard on retention – cutting turnover by 26% to an impressive 49% in three years - by introducing new development schemes and apprenticeships while rewarding hard-working teams through its Ways of Woodhouse recognition scheme.
Recent additions to its training and development programmes include access to gamified learning platform Attensi, designed to improve understanding and learning for all team members and Futureproof Management Development. Introduced in 2023, the development scheme helps prepare deputy general managers for their step-up to general manager with 40 graduates of the scheme so far.
The business is also seeing positive outcomes from the introduction of its chef apprenticeship programme, which it launched in partnership with Chichester College in February 2024. The programme, designed to focus on the skills and knowledge specific to Hall & Woodhouse, is developing 26 apprentices and will see more join when it rolls out the programme to Bournemouth and Poole, and Exeter colleges.
Heartwood Inns
Heartwood Inns, the Alchemy Partners-backed pub group, has some ambitious growth plans, aiming to more than double its 28-strong estate to 60 in the next two years.
While its property team focuses on securing these new sites, its people team, led by people director Helen Melville, has been striving to make the business an employer of choice to help secure a steady pipeline of staff to run them.
To complement its bespoke training platform Stepping Stones, which maps out a development pathway for every 900 of its employees, Heartwood introduced a number of programmes to support progression. They include the Manager Academy, introduced to boost progression rates for assistant managers; a Manager and Chef Advancement Programme helping supervisors to progress to managerial level, and kitchen porters to become chefs, and a Leadership Programme.
There have also been moves to professionalise bar staff and boost retention in this area through a new Bar Academy. Over 30 graduates have already achieved the WSET Level 1 qualification with a select number seeing their cocktails appear on the group’s drinks list.
Aside from focusing on progression, the business which rebranded in 2023, has taken strides in making each pub a supportive place to work with the appointment of a new culture and wellbeing manager alongside access to Hospitality Action’s EAP and other benefits like free staff meals, enhanced parental leave and early pay.
Reward and recognition also play a key role in making this finalist an attractive place to join – and stay – with retail discounts, awards for one to 15 years’ service and birthday gifts among the benefits.
And these steps are working. As employee turnover drops to an impressive 49% and internal promotion rates hit 75%, Heartwood and its team looks well set for the future.
Hickory’s Smokehouse
With plans to add another 10 sites to its estate this year, rapidly following the six opened in 2024, Hickory’s Smokehouse has a lot on its plate.
One of the toughest tasks for the coming year will be finding the estimated 1,000 new recruits to work across the new sites.
Fortunately, the Chester-based pubco, which was acquired by Greene King in 2022 and led by Hickory’s managing director John Welsh, has been working hard to make the 25-strong business an attractive place to work, both for its 2,376 existing team members and newcomers.
A robust training and development programme – delivered in-house – provides team members with the support they need to thrive. Following a welcoming orientation, new team members are handed over to in-store trainers who guide departmental (bar, floor, kitchen, management) training ‘in real life’ so they feel properly supported from the off.
Continual development is encouraged – each member – from floor staff, to bartenders and chefs - has a personal development plan – showing how they can progress through the Hickory’s Academy, which offers 20 learning programmes to every team member whatever their role or level. And all steps are certified – and celebrated. It’s proving a success with staff turnover a super-low 40%.
Development is not Hickory’s only strong hand, the ‘good old southern hospitality’ Hickory’s Smokehouse famously dishes out to its guests, extends to its staff too. Free barbecue on shift; a complimentary birthday meal for up to four guests; an annual team party, and team enrichment trips are just a few of the benefits available to its staff.
Support also comes from 55 certified Wellbeing Champions who hold regular welfare chats and arrange webinars and workshops on a range of topics – from finance to neurodiversity – making Hickory’s an all-round great place to work.
