All aboard
Employment scheme aims to offer jobs to over 500 care experienced young people a year.
The UK’s biggest hospitality company today reveals plans to offer jobs in its hotels and restaurants to over 500 care experienced young people every year by 2027.
Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn hotels wants to create the opportunities as part of a youth strategy aiming to remove employment barriers for disadvantaged young people.
A care experienced young person is someone who has been in care at any point in their life, including with the local authority and Whitbread aims to achieve its employment target through a partnership with Barnardo’s alongside organic recruitment.
To underscore the commitment Whitbread has signed the Care Leaver Covenant which is aimed at supporting young people leaving care and showcasing the jobs available.
Roles will include opportunities in housekeeping and kitchens as well as hotel and restaurant management and Whitbread will also offer work experience opportunities.
Whitbread is working with Barnardo’s in Glasgow, Birmingham and Edinburgh with plans to further expand UK-wide, including in Swansea and Newcastle upon Tyne.
Rachel Howarth, Chief People Officer for Whitbread said: “As an inclusive employer, we welcome people from all backgrounds and experience and what matters most to us is courage, curiosity and an enjoyment of working with a wide variety of people. All too often those who are care experienced face barriers that others may not and we’re here to say there is a place here for you and no limits to your ambition if you’d like to work for us”.
She added: “We’re delighted to join forces with Barnardo’s and so proud of the young people who have taken part in the programme so far, many of who are now excelling in their new roles with us. We are so excited to expand the scheme and welcome more young people on board to grow meaningful careers”.
Warren is a care experienced young person who has joined Premier Inn as part of their housekeeping / maintenance team and is a Hospitality Accommodation Level 2 apprentice.
He said: “I’d never stayed in a hotel before, so I didn’t know much about Premier Inn. But during my work experience, I got to try every role, from the restaurant to the hotel. I really enjoyed the maintenance role in the restaurant and hotel – you spend a lot of time fixing things, and I like that. So, getting a job doing that is great! The management team have been really good at helping me with my training and pointing me in the right direction.”
Tommy McDade, Barnardo’s UK Head of Business for Employment, Training and Skills, said: “Barnardo’s believes in the unique worth of every young person, including those who face additional challenges in accessing the world of work. We know that care-experienced young people are disproportionately likely to be out of employment, education, or training compared to other groups.
“That’s why we’re thrilled to be partnering with Whitbread to change this and create more employment opportunities for care-experienced young people. Together, we’ve already delivered life-changing support for young people across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Birmingham.
The commitment from Whitbread, combined with the inclusive approach that truly embodies our partnership, has already made a massive impact on so many lives. Having already supported more than 35 young people, we’re excited to continue growing this collaboration and help Whitbread achieve its ambition of employing 500 care-experienced young people a year by 2027.”
The partnership programme sees care experienced young people take part in an eight-week programme designed to help build confidence and employability skills. The goal is to secure permanent employment for those participating at a Premier Inn local to them.
With the support of a Barnardo’s Youth Worker, skills learned include team-building, customer service and interview practice, delivered through a mix of classroom and practical sessions, including a week of work experience to get hands-on experience.
As a sector, hospitality is an excellent creator of jobs and for many people marks their first start in the working world. Whitbread’s motto is ‘no barriers to entry, no limits to ambition’ so the business welcomes people from all backgrounds and experience and has many examples of people who have joined as entry level team members and built long term careers, often progressing to management roles.
To date, 18 young people have secured jobs thanks to participating in the scheme.
ENDS
