25
increases. Advertised salaries for
chef roles lead the way for increases.
These figures are in keeping with the
trend that hospitality providers are
taking catering demands by
delegates seriously.
Analysis of more than 10m jobs
posted across sectors since 2015,
found that some roles within the
sector increased at some of the
fastest rates in the UK. For instance,
the average advertised salary for an
executive chef increased by 8.5% to
almost £45,800 in the past year,
while hotel managers (7.8%) and
pastry chefs (4.7%) also saw a
significant increase in advertised
salaries.
Bill Dawes, area manager of Reed
Hospitality & Leisure, said: “The
hospitality sector is in great health.
Innovative outlets are popping up
everywhere, with technology
supporting both back and
front-of-house tasks. Training,
recruitment and retention are
improving significantly, thanks in
large part to new academies. The
only concerns in the sector are
uncertainty over Brexit, and
struggling high street chains.
“Despite this, the British
Hospitality Association predicts
there’ll be another 500,000
hospitality jobs created by 2022,
demonstrating the growth and
expansion of the sector in the coming
years. And companies are employing
people on permanent contracts, so
there still remains an undercurrent of
confidence that this consumer
dependent industry is strong enough
to thrive after Brexit.”
Regionally, the biggest increases
were seen in the East Midlands,
which saw a 5% increase against the
UK average of 0.5% for the industry.
Roles in the region such as
operations director and food &
beverage manager experienced large
increases of 5.8% and 9.1%
respectively.
Dawes continued: “Companies
have a better view of the staff they
need and this has involved heavier
investments in HR, retention and
internal recruiters hired to attract
candidates. This has coincided with
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greater investment in training to
convince new workers that this
industry is not a short-term career
option. Hospitality and leisure can
give passionate people that have the
skills to work in a consumer-facing
industry a rewarding career for life.
“If a quote is
extremely cheap
or a client
knocks it down
to an unworkable
amount then it
is the staff who
will suffer.”
Margaret Reeves,
managing director,
RefTech
Paying a living wage
Of course, being paid a living wage is
what any employee will view as a
deciding factor when looking for
work.
Events industry technology
provider RefTech was an early
adopter of the Living Wage
Accredited Employer scheme.
Margaret Reeves, managing
director, RefTech, said: “We became
a Living Wage Accredited Employer in
2015 and I believe we were the first
event industry supplier to do so. It
was a simple step at the time
because all our staff were already
earning over the living wage anyway.
The Living Wage Foundation now
calls their minimum salary the ‘Real
Living Wage’ because it reflects the
real cost of living – their amount is
higher than the Government’s
‘National Living Wage.’
www.conference-news.co.uk
“When the Foundation raised the
Real Living Wage last year, we had
staff on training schemes who were
working towards, but not yet earning
this new higher amount. Their
planned wage progression had to be
reviewed and we increased their
salary ahead of their training in order
to keep paying over the minimum
Real Living Wage and therefore
ensure we could continue to be a
Living Wage Accredited Employer.
“We pride ourselves in offering a
great service to our clients – but we
may not be the cheapest because
we pay our staff properly. I believe
that many event suppliers simply
cannot pay the Real Living Wage to
staff because they do not charge a
fair price for their services. This
culture of knocking down prices and
buying as cheaply as possible is
damaging the industry and the wider
UK economy and has to stop.
“I urge agencies and corporates
not to simply buy on price alone, but
to look at the ethics and ethos of
their supplier. If a quote is extremely
cheap or a client knocks it down to
an unworkable amount then it is the
staff who will suffer.”