For Employers

Involving Employers in the Skills Hub

Active input from sector Employers will be key to the success of The Southwark Hospitality Skills Hub. We aim to include Employers in a number of ways, including:

As recipients of support through our recruitment and job matching service – to enable you to successfully fill vacancies and recruit trained, job ready candidates.
As Industry Ambassadors – supporting us in Schools to promote the industry, providing opportunities to influence the next generation of job seekers.
To assist in the design of training course content to ensure that our provision meets the changing needs of the industry.
Supporting you to become a London Living Wage Employer – for those who meet the criteria, we are also able to cover the cost of your Accreditation fees for 2 years!

Staff Recruitment:

An experienced Recruitment Specialist will work with you to identify any organisational skills shortages or needs. Working with our local residents who are being specifically trained for employment in the sector, we will then provide suitable candidates for your vacant posts. As well as this matching service we are able to offer:

Organisational needs analysis to help identify any skill shortages.
Advice on staff recruitment and retention including buddying/mentoring programmes, family friendly contracts etc
Referral to specialist and niche training providers who can offer bespoke training for staff.
Training for existing staff

Industry Ambassadors:

As an Industry Ambassador we will be led by you, taking into account what is possible in terms of your time and area of interest. Our current Industry Ambassadors are involved in the following:

Working with us to deliver a range of school interventions from off site ‘A day in the Life of…’ pupil visits, to careers talks, networking events and on-line short videos.

Employer Advisory Board – Southwark Local Authority are keen to see a number of local employers join our Advisory Board which is made up of a range of industry employers, from SME and micro businesses through to large multi-national companies. Advisory Board members help to shape our delivery, responding to feedback and ensuring our offer stays relevant and fresh.

In addition Employers siging up to the Hub have access to:

Support from the London Borough of Southwark to cover the first 2 years of Accreditation fees for companies that achieve London Living Wage Employer Status through the Councils scheme.

Bite Sized Events – which bring together local employers, schools and colleges and stakeholders to network, highlight good practice and promote services that might be of interest to other local employers.

Newsletters – we will be regularly featuring the work of the Hub on both project specific and Local Authority newsletters.

Website features and case studies – we regularly promote our employers on the Rinova and SHSH website.

We are looking for support from employers across the capital, although the Funding for London Living Wage Employers is only available to those in the London Borough of Southwark

We are excited to take part in the launch of this new programme through the Southwark Hospitality Skills Hub. It is a great opportunity not only to showcase the fantastic career paths available within the industry but also to help nurture young talent in our local community and provide them with the key skills they need to thrive in the future.

For us it is always great when teachers have questions and ask for our input as an industry in what they should be preparing the students for, and what we look for in employees

Teachers and career advisors only seem to think about chefs in relation to hospitality, we could do more as an industry to make them aware of their fantastic career options available

It is so rewarding to see the amazement a student faces when learning something new

It has been great to see new generation inspired about hospitality

I think some were excited that they don't necessarily need to be academically minded to have a career in hospitality, passion, hard work, team work, customer service and creativity are equally important

I attended a couple of the Bitesize networking events and found it very useful to connect to hospitality businesses and exchange contacts

The bitsize events enabled us to develop our network and spread the word about what we do and who can benefit

I think with the bitesize events there is a great platform for growth