Co-founder of Mallows Bottling awarded British Empire Medal
The co-founder of an artisan spirit and contract bottling company has been honoured by the Queen with a British Empire Medal (BEM).
Twenty-five-year-old Rhys Mallows, managing director of Mallows Bottling, repurposed his business to produce more than 1m bottles of hand sanitiser during the coronavirus pandemic.
Their site produced 1.3m bottles of 100ml hand sanitiser and 124,000 litres of gel in larger containers.
"This was a real team effort,” Mallows said. “It's a fantastic feeling to be recognised in this way, but I feel strongly that this is an award for everybody that pulled together to ensure we could get the hand sanitiser to the places that needed it most.
"Coming into work in the early days of the pandemic, when we still didn't have much information, must have felt scary, but our team worked so hard and showed such commitment to getting as much sanitiser as we could physically make out of the door every day."
Livelyhood appoints new FD
South London pub operator Livelyhood has appointed a new director of finance as it gears up for a planned growth period, according to reports by The Morning Advertiser’s (MA) sister title MCA Insight.
Richard D’Cruz joined the six-strong operator in May following a stint as senior finance manager at Ennismore, the London-based owner and developer of hospitality venues such as the Hoxton and Gleneagles, where he worked for more than three years.
Livelyhood recently earmarked the opening its seventh site, the Artful Duke, on Bromley High Street, for August, with another venue to follow later this year.
Camden Town Brewery hiring first chief freshness officer
Camden Town Brewery is on the hunt for a chief freshness officer whose sole responsibility will be ensuring the brand is always serving up fresh beer.
No experience is required, in the beer industry or otherwise, and the main responsibility for Camden’s chief freshness officer will be ‘fresh-testing’ the latest batch of Camden beers each month to ensure they taste just as great as the last.
All Camden asks from candidates is that applicants have a birth certificate that confirms they’re over the age of 25 and have a passion for all things fresh. Camden is also offering the lucky beer lover a one-off payment of £5,000 in return for their time – and their tastebuds.
“The aim of our first ever nationwide TV campaign was to grow awareness and drive trial of our great tasting, never pasteurised beer. We launched the ‘Recall’ ATL to show beer fans that pasteurising beer is something we would never do, and as a second phase of the campaign, we’re now looking for a Chief Freshness Officer to continue to highlight our never pasteurised message,” Zoe Wulfsohn-Dunkley, head of brand marketing at Camden Town Brewery, said.
“We’re looking for someone who loves fresh beer almost as much as we do, and who understands why pasteurisation is the worst thing we could ever to do our beers.
“We hope the campaign educates beer drinkers on why drinking unpasteurised is the best thing you can do if you’re passionate about delicious tasting beer.”
Applications for Camden’s chief freshness officer are now open.
Night-time economy to protest ongoing Government restrictions
Industry workers and business owners from across the night-time economy will take part in a #FreedomToDance march through London to protest the ongoing lockdown restrictions imposed on the sector, according to reports by BigHospitality.
The demonstrate follows the Government's recent decision to postpone the final easing of lockdown restrictions in England by four weeks, meaning much of the night-time economy, which has primarily been shut since the start of the pandemic, will be forced to stay closed until at least 19 July.
Led by electronic music community campaign group Save Our Scene (SOS), the march is supported by SaveNightlife CIC – the Night Time Industries Association's (NTIA) cultural arm.
The march will depart from Marble Arch at 12pm on Sunday 27 June, making its way to Parliament, with DJ sets from the likes of Alan Fitzpatrick, Eats Everything, East End Dubs, Fat Tony, Franky Wah, Hannah Wants, Jess Bays, Max Chapman, Charlie Tee, Kizzy Alicia, SUAT, Seb Zito, SOSA, Waff, Summer Ghemati, and Wheats.
Former Red Bull executive joins Professional Security
Door team provider, Professional Security, continues to build its senior management team with the appointment of former Red Bull executive, Alex Minett as sales and marketing director.
Minett has worked for Red Bull in a number of roles over the last 20 years culminating in leading the UK on-trade sales team. He was also managing director of West Yorkshire based Ossett Brewery.
Professional Security’s CEO, Dave Fullerton, said: “We are delighted to have Alex join the team. His knowledge of the hospitality sector and relationships with those who lead it, built over 20 years working for Red Bull, is second to none.
“Alex is the latest of our team to come from the hospitality sector following Jason Thorndycraft, Darryn Valerio, Ben Levick, Rebecca Cullum and James Costigan to name just a few. Their broad hospitality experience means that we can offer a unique offer to our clients, delivering a different level of service and experience.’’
Minett added: “It has been the toughest year in living memory for hospitality and guest safety is more important than ever. Professional Security’s reputation for disrupting the sector with its fresh and dynamic approach to security attracted me to the position. I look forward to working with Dave, Jason and the team to drive an outstanding security experience for our customers.”
Professional Security was established in 2005 and now has a team of over 8,000 qualified security professionals, servicing hospitality, retail and corporate clients across the UK.
Wages driven up by staff shortages
The average wages of pub and restaurant workers have risen by as much as 14%, driven by a shortage of staff in the hospitality sector.
According to data from jobs marketplace Indeed Flex, weekend shifts are typically paying 9% more than pre-pandemic levels.
Weekday pay rates have risen by an average of 5% across the UK, far exceeding the 1.8% rise in the minimum wage between 2019 and 2021.
Pay increases vary around the country, with Greater Manchester and Cheshire experiencing the biggest pay hikes.
Hourly rates for temporary workers in those areas have risen by 11.15% for weekday hospitality staff, and by 13.87% for weekend workers compared to May 2019.
Pay growth has been weakest in Merseyside, where hourly rates increased by just 0.84% on average, and in London, where they notched up by only 3.73%.
Calls to mass vaccinate young Scots as pubs 'needlessly closing'
Mass vaccinating young Scots would prevent hundreds of venues being forced to close their doors and help workers' mental health, pub bosses have claimed.
The Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG) has said momentum in vaccinating all under 25 year olds would solve the current situation of venues closing because young staff must self-isolate.
More than 3.6m people have received a first dose of a Covid jab while more than 2.6m have had both doses, according to the Scottish Government’s latest figures.
Pub bosses have said walk in vaccinations must be rolled out across Scotland for over-18s as in England.
Anna Sebastian becomes head of brand at Ellie Goulding’s Served Hard Seltzer
Anna Sebastian, previously bar manager at Artesian at the Langham on London’s Regents Street has left the World’s 50 Best Bar to become head of brand at the premium British hard seltzer brand Served.
Following more than three years at Artesian, Anna will work alongside co-owner Ellie Goulding and co-founders Dean and Ryan Ginsberg as the brand accelerates its growth across multiple channels.
“I am delighted to have joined the team at Served Hard Seltzer after being introduced to the brand last year,” Sebastian said. “Being able to work with such a fantastic early-stage brand that is growing so rapidly is not only exciting, but also a rare opportunity for me to make a real difference and impact when it comes to what the company stands for – particularly when it comes to sustainability and the environment.
“The Hard Seltzer category is growing so quickly in the UK and I am incredibly excited to be on this journey with Served.”
Treasury remains tight-lipped on furlough flexibility
The Treasury has been reticent to confirm whether it is considering excluding some businesses from the upcoming changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
Employers will have to pay 10% of the costs in July and 20% in August and September despite operators’ crushed hopes about reopening this month.
Night-life bosses have called for flexibility after the Prime Minister announced a four week delay to the lifting of pandemic restrictions and pushed back the reopening of nightclubs until 19 July.
The Night-Time Industries Association called for the exclusion of closed businesses from proportionate furlough contribution and said one in four of its members believe they will not survive longer than a month without further support.
A Treasury spokesperson stressed the support available for businesses when asked by The Morning Advertiser (MA) about the possibility of sector-specific amends.
Check EU employees right to work, warns Bizimply
Hospitality employers will need to keep clear records of their team members' immigration and right-to-work status as the UK moves into the post-Brexit “hostile environment” from 1 July, according one hospitality workforce specialist.
Bizimply is warning businesses that they need a clear and accessible record of every employee's status in order to demonstrate compliance with the regulations.
Under UK law, employers face imprisonment and unlimited fines for knowingly employing someone who does not have the right to work in the UK.
Conor Shaw, Bizimply CEO, said: "Just as the hospitality sector is bringing its workforce back as the economy reopens, there is a real danger that many businesses now face a significant new challenge as key employees lose the right to work.
“Of course, there are legal penalties, but with the labour shortage a challenge across the sector, businesses also need to know they have enough trained and experienced staff at all times and at every site."
A leak of Government figures shows that around 130,000 of the 820,000 Europeans residing in the UK have yet to apply for Settled Status, despite the hard cut-off of 30 June as the date to apply.
Shaw added: "Although the deadline has been known for some time, the uncertainty over Covid and the challenges of communicating with employees during lockdown means that many businesses may not know the status of every employee.
"That won't be an excuse when the authorities start asking for proof of right to work. UK politicians haven't talked about the ‘hostile environment' over immigration for no reason. Proof both that employees have the right to work, and that employers have checked and recorded that status will be essential."
Details of the Settled Status regulations are at www.gov.uk/eusettledstatus with an employer toolkit available at www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-employer-toolkit.
‘Complete mindset shift’ required to solve hospitality’s recruitment challenges
Aaron Sinkia, general manager at Aruba Bournemouth and ex-general manager at London’s Café de Paris, has cautioned that “a complete mindset shift” is required to solve hospitality’s recruitment challenges. “That shift can only be led from the top,” he explained.
“If we as hospitality leaders don’t embrace new, fresh talent and coach recruits in the early days, we’ll never get out of this rut and will continually face recruitment challenges.
“It is absolutely critical that young people leaving education don’t see bar work or waiting tables as dead-end jobs. As industry leaders, it’s our responsibility to provide those new to the industry with an exciting and engaging career path.
“I started my career in hospitality 16 years ago as a bar tender and have since gone onto manage top London nightclubs, develop innovative and cutting-edge events programmes to transform venues and have managed teams of up to 150 people,” he continued. “There's so much opportunity and creativity within a career in hospitality which isn’t always communicated by managers to their junior staff.
“Those new to the industry need more coaching and attention, but this shouldn’t be seen as a burden - instead, it’s an opportunity to mould and nurture their talents.
"Hospitality leaders are fundamental to actioning this change and guiding their businesses through this challenge. We may have lost fantastic people to other industries, but I would argue we’re wasting time in trying to get them back.
"We need to develop new fantastic people. There has never been a more important time to be an inspiring, energetic and positive leader in hospitality.”
