Employer Spotlight - Mitchells & Butlers

The government’s Get Britain Working White Paper identifies issues employers are currently facing with labour and skills shortages. It also highlights their continuing need for support to recruit and retain workers with a health condition or disability. The funded employability services that Reed in Partnership delivers are an important solution to these challenges, providing employers with access to economically inactive or unemployed people in their area and support their training and onboarding.

An example of this in practice is our relationship with Mitchells & Butlers, one of the UK’s largest operators of restaurants, pubs and bars. The company owns brands including All Bar One, Harvester, O’Neill’s and Toby Carvery. Since our partnership began last year, we have been working collaboratively to match them with suitable job-seeking candidates, helping to fill a number of vacancies and supporting their strong trading performance, which included over 5% of growth last year.

Sundeep Patel, National Account Manager for Reed in Partnership, said: “Mitchells & Butlers share our social values, and together we want to help people re-enter the workforce, providing continued support to staff even once they’ve secured roles.

“They are keen to put our candidates through their career development channels and their inclusive, accessible interview process ensures they get the best out of the jobseekers we work with.”

Jobseekers using our employability services who are interested in roles in the hospitality sector are invited to take part in our in-house training to support them with upskilling and preparing for interviews. The training we provide is informed by the particular recruitment needs that Mitchells & Butlers, and other hospitality companies, have. At the end of the training, we are able to identify the right candidates to invite to our in-person events where they are given the opportunity to interview for available roles with Mitchell & Butlers.

We’ve successfully placed over 60 jobseekers into work with Mitchells & Butlers in both front and back of house roles through these events. Everyone going through the process – whether successful in their interview or not – is provided with comprehensive feedback on their application.

Carly Clark, Resourcing Capability Manager at Mitchells & Butlers, said: "Our collaboration with Reed in Partnership has felt like a journey of mutual growth and shared values. Together, we've not only achieved successful placements but also improved individuals’ wellbeing and lives, while promoting diversity and inclusion within the workforce. Collaborating with employability providers is key to fostering sustainable employment and by working together, we create opportunities that build lasting careers and strengthen our community."

Reed in Partnership has worked with more than 25,000 recruiting businesses. 96% of the employers we’ve worked with said they would use our recruitment services again. As our employability services are government-funded, our recruitment is fully funded and cost free.

Find out more about our recruitment support at reedinpartnership.co.uk/services/recruitment-support