Employment levels continue to fall across the UK, with hospitality one of the hardest hit industries.
Speaking at the MA Leaders Club conference at Brix in London on Wednesday 4 March, an expert panel encouraged delegates to consider recruiting from the talent pool in UK prisons.
Timpson Group’s director of diversity & inclusion, Darren Burns, said attitudes have shifted significantly in the 25 years since the company began hiring prison leavers.
Around 12% of Timpson’s workforce now comes from prisons, with many progressing to regional manager roles.
Burns described the approach as “really rewarding”, noting the visible impact employment had on people rebuilding their lives.
Stable work, purpose and support also help individuals reintegrate and feel valued in their communities, reducing the risk of reoffending, he added.
Burns stressed the commercial payoffs were just as strong: “The reality is, if employing prison leavers wasn’t good for business, we probably wouldn’t do it.
“The prison leavers we employ are very hard working, cheaper to recruit, often stay with us longer and are statistically more honest than people we recruit through job centres or recommendations.”
Changing perceptions
With around 80,000 people currently in the prison system, projected to exceed 100,000 by 2030, he added thousands of work‑ready candidates were waiting for a chance.
Burns also highlighted the protections in place for employers through full background checks, risk assessments and in‑person training.
“The irony is, when you recruit people from prison, you know everything about them because you get full disclosure,” he said, pointing out many individuals had faced lifelong disadvantages such as addiction in the family, exclusion from school or time in the care system.
Only A Pavement Away (OAPA) founder and voluntary CEO Greg Mangham also pushed back against assumptions all prison leavers have been convicted for violent offences, as is often assumed.
“Statistics show one in four people has committed an offence”, he said. “A lot of people in prison have been sleeping rough or come out of the military and then gone to prison; it’s a revolving door for them.
“It is about getting over preconceptions. The person you’re looking at, or you perceive you’re looking at, isn’t necessarily the person you think you are looking at.”
Recruits can join businesses while still inside on Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) or after release via organisations like OAPA.
Mangham explained the charity connects companies with prisons and provides year‑long support after hiring.
This, he said, removed the “elephant in the room” and allowed for open conversations between employers and recruits about strengths and support needs.
Ideal person
Mangham added many candidates already hold food and beverage experience as well as hygiene certificates, gained during their time in custody, describing prison leavers as the ideal people for hospitality roles.
He continued: “Where else are you going to find someone who has the skills to cook for 1,600 people every day? They are already trained, are streetwise and have strength of character and tenacity…if you’ve gone through two years in prison, you’ve got to be pretty brave.”
However, despite progress, one of the biggest hurdles remains shifting perceptions among existing staff and settling in new team members as they adjust to life outside of incarceration, Burns admitted.
To help integrate new recruits from the prison system, continued support for both them and general managers is essential, Greene King social lead Graham Briggs told the conference.
“It sets the tone”, he said. “We don’t just leave them to it.
“Support is in place for the new recruit and the general manager, that’s where those relationships step up.”
However, recruiting prison leavers should not serve as a “passion project” for businesses, Briggs warned: “It gives the business purpose.
“There’s so much opportunity here, we just can’t get the message out to enough employers to make them aware, but this talent is there.
“There are some challenges, we won’t sit here and pretend it’s all smooth sailing…but you see [the benefits] being repaid in your business.”
