Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC, the premium pubs and hotels business, has launched a guide to recruiting team members who are neurodiverse or have intellectual disabilities (ID). The guide has been produced with help and support from LVS Hassocks – a specialist school for children with autism owned by the Licensed Trade Charity – and Fuller’s corporate charity Special Olympics Great Britain.
While a handful of Fuller’s pubs – in particular The Cabbage Patch in Twickenham – are already active in this space, Fuller’s identified an opportunity to build on this work. Team members with an ID may need shorter shifts and clear, often visual, instruction. They may also have a range of sensory needs, such as quiet spaces for respite, or the avoidance of loud, busy sessions.
Against the backdrop of these minor adjustments, the benefits of a more diverse team are huge – building camaraderie and pride while helping to enrich the life of the new team member and their family. It is also a step in tackling the 94% unemployment rate among the 1.5 million people with an ID in the UK.
The guide covers all aspects of the process from the use of inclusive language and visual cues when recruiting, through interview, induction and making small, but suitable, changes to the working environment. Fuller’s took direction from Special Olympics athletes with first-hand knowledge of good and bad workplace practices and the teaching aids used in the classrooms at LVS Hassocks.
Written by renowned trade journalist Kate Oppenheim, the booklet is being rolled out to all Fuller’s Managed Pubs and will also be available to all Fuller’s Tenants. Moving forwards, the Licensed Trade Charity will take the work out to the wider industry later this year, as tackling unemployment among people with IDs should not, in Fuller’s view, be restricted to one company.
Monique Samra, Fuller’s People Experience Manager with responsibility for DE&I, said: “This is such a great booklet aimed at giving our General Managers the confidence and skills to recruit team members from a whole new, and vastly underrepresented, section of the community. We had a goal of recruiting 20 new team members with an ID – and we’ve already beaten that target. With the roll out of this guide, I hope that number will continue to grow.”
Chris Welham, CEO at the Licensed Trade Charity, commented: “We have been working with children with IDs through our schools LVS Hassocks and LVS Oxford for decades – and this collaboration with Fuller’s is just fantastic. The guide, and the collaboration, shows that the industry that has supported our students’ education is there to support their progression with pathways into work experience and a potential career in hospitality. Fuller’s is really leading the way here and setting a standard that we hope the rest of the industry will follow.”
Laura Baxter MBE, CEO of Special Olympics GB, added: “The statistics around employment levels for people with an ID are exceptionally low. There are 1.5 million people living with an ID in Great Britain and only 6% are in paid employment. It is just fantastic to see Fuller’s – which has been a prolific fundraiser for Special Olympics GB since 2018 – taking a further step on its support for those with IDs. I can’t wait to see where this work goes next – and if more hospitality businesses can join this revolution, I will be absolutely delighted.”
<END>
Photograph attached:
A PDF version of the booklet is attached, and photographs can be downloaded here: https://we.tl/t-7vMxaNJeDw. Please note this link will expire seven days after the date of this press release. The photos show Fuller’s People Experience Manager Monique Samra, Special Olympics GB Athlete Mitch Camp, and Special Olympics GB CEO Laura Baxter MBE
For further information, please contact the press office:
Georgina Wald 020 8996 2198 georgina.wald@fullers.co.uk
Alice Monteath 020 8996 2074 alice.monteath@fullers.co.uk
Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC is the premium pubs and hotels business that is famous for beautiful and inviting pubs with delicious fresh food, a vibrant and interesting range of drinks, and engaging service from passionate people. Our purpose in life is to create experiences that nourish the soul. Fuller’s has 182 managed businesses, with 1,015 boutique bedrooms, and 188 Tenanted Inns. The Fuller’s pub estate stretches from Brighton to Birmingham and from Bristol to the Greenwich Peninsula, including 163 locations within the M25. Our Managed Pubs and Hotels include Cotswold Inns & Hotels – seven stunning hotels in the Cotswolds, and Bel & The Dragon – six exquisite modern English inns located in the Home Counties. In summary, Fuller’s is the home of great pubs, outstanding hospitality and passionate people, where everyone is welcome and leaves that little bit happier than they arrived.
For further information, please contact the press office:
Georgina Wald 020 8996 2198 georgina.wald@fullers.co.uk
Alice Monteath 020 8996 2074 alice.monteath@fullers.co.uk
Third-party news items that are posted on the Guild website’s news section come from press releases received by the Guild. These press releases are posted as they have been received and their publication on the Guild website is intended as an informational service provided to our members and website visitors. As such, the publication of a story from a third-party source is neither an endorsement of the content, nor its sender, by the Guild. For enquiries on any news item, please use the contact details that can be found at the bottom of each post.