Greene King targets apprentices and prison leavers to fill 3,000 job vacancies

Greene King has set out a mission statement to change the perception of hospitality careers as it looks to fill thousands of job vacancies.

The pub company said roles in pubs, restaurants and hotels should be promoted on the same footing as academic degrees and STEM jobs in school career advice.

Greene King owns around 2,600 pubs and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland and employs 39,000 staff. It had around 3,000 vacancies in June, including 650 apprenticeship roles.

A survey of 2,000 young people aged 16-25 commissioned by the pub chain found that 48% believed the hospitality sector does not offer good career development opportunities while 20% said there was a negative perception of working in the industry.

Three in five young people do not think there are enough promising job opportunities in their local area, but 89% of the same group were interested in a job that would allow them to stay in their community.

Greene King launched a report in Parliament today (29 June) setting out plans to “untap the potential” of thousands of people with jobs in the hospitality industry.

It comes as the sector struggles with record job vacancies, with 174,000 hospitality jobs left unfilled between March and May, according to Office for National Statistics data.

Recruitment plans

Greene King said it planned to hire 5,000 new apprentices and 300 more prison leavers by 2025 in partnership with the Ministry of Justice. It has already supported 100 prison leavers into employment and plans to open the first Greene King prison training kitchen at HMP Thameside.

The pub chain will launch a chef academy programme this year in partnership with TV presenter Joe Hurd. It also set out plans to provide 100 internships to those with special educational needs (SEN) after supporting around 40 people through the scheme since 2021.

Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King, said: “Pubs have always been about people, and I’ve witnessed the way a job in a pub can completely change a person’s life and become a lifelong, successful career.

“Pubs have so much to offer both for those looking for careers and those in the local community. If we are to fully capitalise on this potential, government and wider industry must pull together to promote careers in hospitality and empower businesses to offer even more training and development opportunities.”

Greene King has called on the government to give hospitality equal prominence to other industries when deciding skills policy and reform the apprenticeship levy to make it simpler for employers.

It also urged ministers to remove barriers to recruitment, such as the complexity and cost of hiring prison leavers.

Neil O'Brien, minister for levelling up, the union and constitution, said: "We will continue to work with the private sector and support projects like Greene King’s that bring opportunity to areas up and down the country, as we continue to honour our commitment to levelling up every corner of the UK while growing the economy to address the cost of living.”

Photo: Red Lion, Grantchester, Greene King