Entries are open for the Best Places to Work in Hospitality 2021

Entries are open for the Best Places to Work in Hospitality 2021, the awards that celebrate the top employers in the sector.

The Best Places to Work in Hospitality awards, run in partnership with Purple Cubed and sponsored by Umbrella Training, highlight the employers who demonstrate exceptional skill at employee engagement and those who have looked after their staff during the worst catastrophe to affect our industry in many years.

This year the awards will recognise those many brilliant businesses who've best handled the crisis with kindness, bravery and grace, putting their people first and dealing with tough decisions pragmatically.

Those entering not only benefit from all the insight from our unique employee survey, but high achievers will also feature in the top 30 hospitality employers list, which sets a business apart as an employer of choice. Those who make the top 30 also gain a free place at The Caterer's 2021 People Summit, and the six highest achievers will be shortlisted for the Best Employer Catey 2021.

Last year Firmdale Hotels carried off the Best Employer Catey. Firmdale is a collection of boutique hotels based in London and New York, including the Ham Yard and Charlotte Street hotels, owned by Tim and Kit Kemp. The company has featured in the top six employers within the hospitality industry five times and has previously won the top accolade. The group says it is committed to the personal and professional development of its 1,300 employees in the knowledge that, "if we get this right, everything else will follow when it comes to business success".

Its company-wide ‘Love What You Do' people brand encourages managers to recognise members of their team for demonstrating one of the five Firmdale values (attention to detail, enthusiasm, relationships, resilience and passion) or one of the four culture values (bright ideas, environmental initiatives, guest comments, learning success). Last year the group also introduced peer-to-peer recognition, with every team member able to award a colleague.

The Caterer's managing editor Lisa Jenkins said: "Firmdale Hotels exemplify the commitment expected of an employer in the Best Places to Work in Hospitality awards. The company is dedicated to training, with its Firmdale Village that includes a Firmdale Training Academy, bakery, central production kitchen and Firmdale coffee shop, and its wellbeing strategy, upskilling staff to become mental health first aiders, among many other initiatives."

If you want to be considered one of the Best Places to Work in Hospitality, enter today via www.bestplacestoworkinhospitality.co.uk

How it works

• Visit the Best Places to Work in Hospitality website and complete your company details.
• There is a payment of £250 per company, which covers the cost of the employee survey.
• Once you have paid you will receive an email from Purple Cubed containing your unique employee survey link, which is completed anonymously by your employees.
• You can now ask employees to complete the survey, which should take about 10 minutes (it's anonymous and is treated in complete confidence).
• Closing date for entries is 16 April 2021, and all surveys must be completed by 30 April 2021.

Best Places to Work in Hospitality is run in partnership with Purple Cubed and is sponsored by Umbrella Training