Senior industry leaders have united in a programme of autumn school visits designed to encourage more young people to consider a career in hospitality.
Compass, Elior, Punch Pubs, Sodexo and Nestlé Professional® will join Kate Nicholls OBE, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, and Chris Gamm, CEO of Springboard, visiting schools across the UK to help improve the perception of hospitality careers.
The school visits mark the start of a big recruitment drive by the Choose Hospitality Pledge. Co-founded by Nestlé Professional, Choose Hospitality and Springboard CareerScope, the Choose Hospitality Pledge is seeking motivated ambassadors to help educate secondary students about the industry’s wide range of entry-level roles and training opportunities, the breadth of roles available – dispelling the ‘only chef or waiter’ myth – as well as the many career pathways on offer.
Commenting on the new school’s programme this autumn, Nestlé Professional managing director, Katya Simmons, said:
“Hospitality businesses are more than twice as likely than other industries to experience challenges filling vacancies1. To address this, we are leading an industry alliance urging hospitality ambassadors to step forward and promote the industry to young people. The Pledge has been created by us with Choose Hospitality and Springboard CareerScope, and is garnering support from a growing number of hospitality and industry leaders.
“Together with our founding partners, we’re galvanising the hospitality industry in the UK to unite and help tackle the recruitment challenge. We’re calling on industry to sign up to the Pledge as ambassadors and visit their local secondary schools. Ambassadors will be equipped with campaign toolkits and props to engage with schoolchildren and demonstrate the exciting opportunities that exist in our industry. Now is the time for people who have carved out a career in the industry to give something back.”
UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls OBE said:
“As the third largest private sector employer in the UK, it’s essential that we shine a light on the fantastic career opportunities that hospitality can provide, and education plays a key role in attracting the next generation of British talent. While only 10% of jobs in hospitality are currently recognised by the UK government as skilled, our industry is filled with highly trained and motivated professionals, and more roles need to be recognised to ensure we continue to attract young workers to the hugely rewarding careers on offer and bring in the skills that we need.”
The Choose Hospitality Pledge gives school leavers the opportunity to experience how dynamic, rewarding and exciting the sector is as a career. It aims to reshape perceptions of the hospitality sector and ignite a passion for careers among young people.
To give back to your profession by inspiring the next generation of talent, please register as a Choose Hospitality Pledge ambassador by visiting: https://my.careerscope.uk.net/ambassador-signup.
1Office for National Statistics (2021)
About the Choose Hospitality Pledge
Co-founded by Nestlé Professional, Choose Hospitality and Springboard CareerScope, the Choose Hospitality Pledge aims to educate secondary students about the industry’s wide range of entry-level roles and training opportunities, the breadth of roles available – dispelling the ‘only chef or waiter’ myth – as well as the many career pathways on offer.
To learn more about the Choose Hospitality Pledge and join the industry-wide movement, visit: http://careerscope.uk.net/choose-hospitality-pledge/
Businesses and associations supporting the pledge are:
Arena
Bridging the Skills Gap
Caterer.com
Compass Group
Elior
Hit Training
Institute of Hospitality
Loving Hospitality
Mitchells & Butler
PACE
Punch Pubs
Royal Lancaster London
Sodexo
Starbucks
The Torridon
TUCO
UKHospitality
University College Birmingham
Whitbread
About Nestlé Professional
At Nestlé Professional®, Hospitality is more than just a business. It is our business.
For the Hospitality Industry, this means inspiring the next generation of culinary talent through Nestlé Professional® Toque d’Or®; striving in the field in Nutrition, Health and Wellness; and collaborating with the industry for a more sustainable future.
About UKHospitality
UKHospitality is the leading trade body for hospitality, representing every corner of the sector. We represent more than 130,000 venues, from pubs, bars and restaurants to hotels, indoor leisure and contract catering.
We work on behalf of a sector at the heart of the everyday economy; contributing £93 billion annually to the economy, generating £54 billion of tax for the Treasury and employing more than 3.5 million people as the third largest employer in the UK.
Our members benefit from our dedicated campaigning to empower an environment for hospitality to thrive, in addition to expert insight, specialist support helplines and guidance on the key issues facing hospitality businesses.