Publican Awards Best Pub Employer (501+ employees) winner, sponsored by illy Coffee: Marston’s

Judges were impressed by the pub operator’s ‘pub up’ philosophy, with senior leaders taking a vested interest in the views and experiences of each and every one of their almost 11,000 employees, while simultaneously investing heavily in their ongoing training and development.

Considering feedback from monthly engagement ‘Your Voice’ surveys distributed to every Marston’s employee has led to direct changes being made across the business, including the introduction of a £4.50 meal deal.

Reward programme

As a founding member of WiTHL, Marston’s has taken greater steps to improve diversity and inclusion in its organisation with the creation of seven employee-led network groups – Social Network, Balance (health and wellbeing), Reach (racial equality and social heritage), PRIDE, Women’s, Men’s and Disability. The move has given further power to the people within the organisation and at board level.

Alongside paying above national minimum wage, the introduction of an incentive-led reward programme – awarding vouchers for high street retailers – was regarded by judges as a welcome addition during the cost-of-living crisis.

The opening of an impressive new Pub Support Centre in Wolverhampton in early 2023, has provided 300 members of its central support team with new office space and its pub teams with the latest training facilities. 

Clear commitment

Indeed, Marston’s clear commitment to making training more accessible over the last year further impressed judges. Alongside the work of field-based trainers delivering skills-based training in-person and virtually, there has been investment in gamified training via platform Attensi. The platform, accessible 24/7, gives teams the chance to learn skills and gain confidence in areas such as customer service by playing individual games and battles.

The employment of 300 apprentices currently in the business at levels two to seven and news of funding of a training kitchen at HMP Liverpool and support of initiatives such as the Burnt Chef Project and It Stops With Me anti-harassment campaign proved Marston’s had left no stone unturned in its quest to make its business a great place to work.