Awards success shows hospitality groups are top places to work

3 March, 2013

Hospitality and leisure groups have proved they can be some of the best places to work in the UK - with TGI Fridays, Hawksmoor and Living Ventures heading a list of top performers in this year's prestigious Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For awards.

TGI Fridays, as reported earlier, came 3rd overall in the 100 Best Companies listings, with Hawksmoor, the upmarket steak restaurant group, in 5th, and Living Ventures, the Manchester-based group that runs Gusto, Blackhouse Grill, Alchemist bars and the New World Pub Company, coming in 9th.

Top overall was UKRD Group, the commercial radio business, with savings business the Save Britain Money Group 2nd.

In the 25 Best Big Companies section, for those with 5,000+ employees and which is now run separately from the main 100 Best listing, Bourne Leisure, which operates Butlins and Haven holiday parks, came 4th overall, with McDonald's in 6th and Whitbread 10th.

The results will be a major boost not only for the individual companies but for the hospitality and leisure sector as a whole, as it works hard to change its long-term image as a poor employer.

Other operators ranked as being among the best 100 employers in the country were: Inventive Leisure, the operator of Revolution Bars (25th); Busaba Eathai (54th); Las Iguanas (79th); and Byron (92nd).

Fridays, which has over 4,000 employees, came 2nd overall for how staff feel towards their immediate boss and day-to-day managers and also how they feel about their immediate colleagues, as well as 3rd for leadership (how employees feel about the head of the company and its senior managers).

Hawksmoor came 2nd overall for giving a fair deal (how happy the workforce is with their pay and benefits). Living Ventures, now with over 1,000 staff members, came 5th for personal growth and 6th for fair deal, while Inventive came 3rd overall for how staff feel about their immediate colleagues.

The rankings also included a numnber of hotel chains and contract catering firms, with IHG (InterConintenal Hotel) coming 3rd in the big company section.

The awards are judged on the response of employees to their companies. The listing this year have only been published online, but include profiles of all those listed. Click through to: thesundaytimes.co.uk/public/best100companies

Sunday Times business editor Dominic O'Connell said: "Being included in a Sunday Times Best Companies list is more than ever recognised as a 'kite mark' that adds real value to an employer’s brand."

The listing for best small companies to work for is published next week.