Greater Manchester leaders urge hospitality business to improve pay and conditions

20-Aug-2021 - Last updated on 20-Aug-2021 at 09:39 GMT

Greater Manchester: Sacha Lord urges business to sign up to its Charter

Greater Manchester business leaders are urging hospitality employers to sign up to Greater Manchester’s Good Employment Charter and raise the standards of working conditions in the sector in order to attract and retain staff.

Night-time economy adviser and operator Sacha Lord and Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership chair Lou Cordwell are encouraging employers in the sector to engage with the charter to demonstrate their commitment to providing fair pay, secure work, and wellbeing support.

The Good Employment Charter sets out seven features of good employment that employers must demonstrate they are working towards – providing secure work, providing flexible work, working towards paying a Real Living Wage, improving workplace engagement and voice, developing excellent recruitment practices, improving people management, and fostering employee health and wellbeing.

The news comes as Lord recently accused the hospitality sector, including the pub trade, of “shooting itself in the foot” by continuing to pay staff the minimum wage.

The industry responded by highlighting the impact of the pandemic and loss of non-British workers.

Staffing crisis

The industry is facing a staffing crisis with many pubs and bars having difficulty filling open positions. Thousands of experienced staff have left the industry and many EU nationals previously employed in hospitality are now unable to work in the UK.

Both Lord and Cordwell argue that by raising pay and conditions across the industry in Greater Manchester, employers could begin to attract more people to unfilled posts.

Lord said that it was time to raise standards and ensure fair pay in the hospitality sector.

“Greater Manchester is already a becoming leader in Good Employment in so many sectors thanks to our Good Employment Charter,” said Lord.

Improve conditions

“The Charter supports employers to improve conditions for their employees, like paying the Real Living Wage, providing more flexible work and developing excellent recruitment practices. I believe our hospitality businesses now need to get on board and be at the forefront of Good Employment. Attracting the right people to our sector is critical to its survival and I believe this is the way to do it.”

Cordwell, added: “What the hospitality industry is now experiencing is nothing short of a staffing crisis. Hospitality is a fantastic sector to work in and Greater Manchester is full of brilliant venues and operators, but after almost 18 months of difficulty and uncertainty, jobseekers are understandably looking elsewhere.

“The best way for businesses to address this crisis is to set a new standard, and this starts with offering fair pay, secure work, better conditions and more opportunities to progress.”