One year on from the official launch of Hospitality Rising’s ‘Rise Fast, Work Young,’ campaign the movement has generated 250,000 job applications for hospitality businesses, reaching more than 50% of people under the age of 30, and seeing 1 in 3 jobseekers considering hospitality as a sector in which to work. This compares to just 1 in 5 in August 2021.
In addition, more than 90,000 job opportunities have been posted, gaining more than 800,000 views and, to-date, the campaign has raised £1m and gained the support of six celebrity chefs, more than 300 operators, suppliers, and all of the major sector trade bodies.
The Hospitality Risings TikTok campaign has been particularly successful. Three bursts on the channel over the 12-months, involving 19 creators and 22 pieces of unique content, have achieved a reach of 3 million, 60,000 clicks, 17 million impressions. In its entirety, across all social channels, the campaign has generated 64 million impressions.
Hospitality Rising was formed as the industry faces a chronic workforce shortage, with figures from CGA by NIQ showing that 61% of hospitality businesses are experiencing staff shortages and are being forced to reduce trading hours and days as a result. The collaborative movement was formed by former Pret a Manger and YO! Sushi marketing chief Mark McCulloch, to attract new talent to the sector and shine a light on the employers who are raising the bar for employee experience across the industry.
Mark McCulloch, Hospitality Rising founder of and campaign director, said, “These incredible results mark a significant step towards addressing the ongoing challenges in the sector’s job market and its image as an appealing sector in which to work. They prove our strategy and creative are the right ones and show the progress we are making.
“Such numbers also clearly show the power of the industry when it comes together to tackle issues such as the workforce crisis and how much we can achieve working collaboratively in this way. To date we’ve raised £1m to fund our work but think how much more we can do if additional hospitality operators and suppliers come on board.
“As we head into our second year of activity, we’ve got some exciting plans in the pipeline and are fizzing with ideas to help build on the amazing work that’s already been done and I would urge everyone to come and join us on this journey.”
Hospitality Rising is backed by some of the biggest names in the UK, including Whitbread, Pret, Welcome Break, Hilton, Soho House, Prezzo, Revolution Bars Group, Parkdean Resorts, Claridge’s, J W Lees and The Pig. On the supplier-side, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and hospitality tech supplier Zonal, are platinum sponsors.
Celebrity chefs including Tom Kerridge, Angela Hartnett and Raymond Blanc OBE, have also generously lent their time and support to the initiative.
Businesses looking to join the movement should register their interest by emailing hello@hospitalityrising.org
