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Hospitality as a sector takes its responsibilities to its customers and staff extremely seriously and the hotel sector has gone one step further by implementing its own Hotelier’s Charter.
What is the Charter?
The Charter, set up in 2020, aims to raise the profile of the hotel industry and advocate for hotels as a great career choice, while also dispelling the myth that a job in the sector cannot translate to a successful and fulfilling career.
It was founded by Sally Beck, general manager of The Royal Lancaster London, who wanted to take matters into her own hands and unify the hotel sector under an umbrella charter of shared objectives.
The initiative has been hugely successful, with around 500 hotels signing up to the Charter. The vast majority of hotels will already be implementing many of the commitments in the Charter but signing up shows the strength of feeling in the sector to create a unified front on this issue in particular.
What is involved?
By signing up to the Hotelier’s Charter, hotels are pledging to:
- 1
Commit to developing team members through training, apprenticeships, coaching and mentoring, positioning hotel roles as careers, not just jobs.
- 2
Support The Hospitality Commitment to respect team members’ work/life balance, rotas and working hours, providing sufficient notice for changes and requests. As our members trade seven days a week, a range of shift patterns are available to support working families, students and part time working.
- 3
Support the ambition to end low pay, believe passionately in giving people opportunities to develop their careers, and give access to financial and pension guidance.
- 4
Champion a fair and transparent service charge, tronc or gratuities system where all monies are distributed with only agreed costs retained.
- 5
Offer colleagues access to an employee assistance programme to provide confidential support across all facets of their physical and mental wellness, both in and outside the workplace.
- 6
Provide a positive and nourishing workplace environment and culture for colleagues, nurturing social networks around their teams and facilitating social activities to build cohesive workplace communities.
- 7
Support industry charities, and other charities relating to the community they serve, respecting and encouraging colleagues’ commitments to additional community endeavours.
- 8
Drive environmentally sustainable businesses with a commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle, and champion the government’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050: and, as part of this, commit to supporting food and drink suppliers local to you.
- 9
Advocate diversity, inclusion and equality, offering English lessons to colleagues where required and taking practical measures to make hotels accessible for all disabilities.
- 10
Commit to the Modern Slavery Act and ensure that all suppliers act in accordance with the core values of the Hoteliers’ Charter and The Hospitality Commitment.
By becoming a Charter Hotelier, hotels are committing to apply its 10 pledges to their venues. They are also committing to actively advance the reputation of the hospitality sector as a career of choice, in your locality, with educational establishments and via all industry associations that they are involved in.
Become a Charter Hotelier
In recent months, UKHospitality has taken on ownership of the Charter and continues to work closer with Sally, its founder, to drive it forward. Alongside our wider work in the workforce and wellbeing space, there are ambitions to continue developing the Charter so it can cover more of hospitality and extend its impact and reach.
