Investment in our people

Investing in our teams is building strong foundations.

Hospitality is an industry built on the people that work there. The UK’s third biggest employer, it’s a dynamic, fast-paced environment full of wins. The satisfaction of a service well executed, a guest that leaves a named review after their stay, or a client that turns into a repeat booking. Hard work, well done. 

With hard work, also comes challenge, and the hospitality industry isn’t a stranger to this. The average hospitality turnover in the UK sits around 52%* and where the average cost of employing someone costs up to 75%* of their salary, investment in retention becomes a priority business objective. 

Every day is a school day. What is helping to buck the trend?

We had a look at the data. Recent reports suggest that there are levers we can pull and ways we can stem the flow. A study in 2023* from hotel employees proved a direct correlation between training and development and a positive impact on retention. When it was offered by the organisation they worked for, this increased again. 

What are we doing?

Not one to sit on our laurels and understanding the importance of investing from floor level to director, in early 2026, we launched CATALYST. Our first company-wide leadership development programme. 

An opportunity for all, CATALYST is designed to develop leaders at every level, from aspiring supervisors to strategic leaders 

Our first two programmes are underway: 

🔹 ASPIRE – for heads of department and managers 

🔹 INSPIRE – for senior leaders and business directors 

We spoke to Kayleigh Gillow about how she is enjoying the Aspire programme.

Kayleigh joined us as an Account Director – leisure in July last year. Successfully building her career from sales co-ordinator to manager and to her current role each step has built on the last. 

‘As an Account Director, my focus has recently shifted to a more strategic and commercial level whilst being responsible for driving account growth and building long-term client partnerships.’ 

‘The CATALYST Aspire programme is designed to build our future leaders, by delivering eight high performance leadership training sessions. So far, I’ve completed two sessions and am really enjoying them. The cohort I’m in have been really open, honest and truly listen to each other’s input and experiences without passing judgement.’ 

‘The course has given me the opportunity to step out of the busy everyday work schedule and reflect upon my learnings both over the last nine months of being here, as well as my previous job roles.’ 

‘Some key takeaways for me so far have been learning how to prioritise workload, how to communicate with my peers based on personal thinking and learning styles, and identifying what leadership traits are important to me.’ 

Built on the success of these initial programmes, plans are already underway to open up two new programmes for our teams: 

Evolve – Developing the foundations of effective leadership 

Elevate – Raising performance, people and purpose to their highest level 

Providing opportunities for everyone to flourish, grow and stay put. Find out more about how you can build your career with us here. 

*CIPD Benchmarking employee turnover: What are the latest trends and insights? | CIPD 

*British Business Bank, Tips on Hiring New Employees, 2025 

*Research Gate M. Mirić & M. Slavković (2023)