Hospitality gets behind Kickstart initiative

By Lisa Riley

Published: 10 September, 2020

The HospitalityUnite website, set up to help hospitality workers find alternative employment during lockdown, has switched its focus to support the government’s Kickstart initiative for young people.

Backed by leading trade associations UK Hospitality, Springboard, The Scottish Tourism Alliance and The Youth Group, HospitalityUnite will provide a free online service aimed at making it easy for both hospitality businesses and those 16-24 year-olds wanting to start a career in the industry to take advantage of the new government funded scheme.

Operating companies taking part will receive exclusive access to candidates and free use of the hiring platform to post jobs, screen candidates, conduct video interviewing and send offer letters. Free employability training will also be available.

“The need for homegrown talent in hospitality will be vital through the course of 2021. Brexit barriers to entry for ‘unskilled’ workers post 1 January will make these Kickstart applicants all the more crucial to the industry’s revival,” said Peter Willis, director of Harri – the online people management platform which set up HospitalityUnite in March.

“We welcome all operators throughout hospitality and tourism to join the HospitalityUnite Kickstart initiative which, in partnership with The Youth Group, will seamlessly process your Government application on your behalf again at no charge,” he added.

The initiative was a “really positive way of promoting the government’s Kickstart programme, set up to assist sectors like ours”, said Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality.

“We know from experience that hospitality benefits hugely from the enthusiasm, talents and innovation of young people in its workforce. As hospitality embarks on a journey of recovery after the impacts of the Covid crisis, those attributes will be more valuable than ever, and the portal will be a great access point for people looking to break into exciting hospitality careers,” she said.

The original HospitalityUnite not-for-profit jobs portal was created in March free-of-charge. The new initiative has already secured commitment from several hospitality groups, including BrewDog, Burger King UK and The Ivy Collection, with the HospitalityUnite team expecting more than 200 businesses to sign up.

Set up at the beginning of lockdown to bring together businesses in other sectors such as care and retail, to support hospitality staff with short term employment stop gaps while their sites were closed, HospitalityUnite has processed over 300,000 applications working with the likes of Amazon, Waitrose, Care UK and Morrisons.

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