Pledge your support for work placements

The scheme was run with a youth development centre next door to the pub and the idea was that we would give young people who had been out of work the chance to see the potential in a career in the pub trade.

We offered induction training alongside a number of level-two qualifications, including health & safety and food safety, as well as an insight into soft skills such as customer service, before they then went on to work in the business for two weeks.

The great news is that it worked; we saw seven individuals come through the pilot scheme and to date three are employed by us, one by another business and another found full-time work outside our industry because of the commitment he had shown by doing the placement.

The individuals who are members of our own team are now starting apprenticeships and are in full-time employment, whereas the story may have been very different if it wasn’t for the fact that they were given a chance and, most importantly, the belief that they could do the job.

Recently, I was lucky enough to see this programme launched nationally, endorsed by Brandon Lewis MP, the minister for pubs, as well as all of our great industry’s trade bodies. One thing that was quite clear at the launch of the initiative, was that we as an industry all agree that people are at the centre of it, and despite debating among ourselves on the beer tie, VAT and minimum pricing, this is something we can all work together on, to give a positive image to the outside world and the very Government we are asking concessions from.

Not only that, it is also an initiative that every operator can get involved in, whether they own one pub or 1,000.

If we can deliver the targeted 15,000 placement positions and get many of the suitable candidates into full-time work, then we will have proved ourselves as a worthy industry that more than pays its way in the UK economy.

To pledge support visit the Pub & Bar Careers website.​