The Group’s activities prioritise our people, responsible retailing and charity.
The Group employs around 3,200 people and, through its proven growth strategy, is committed to creating rewarding careers for our teams. In order to support the retention of our teams, our development activity focuses on creating career paths from every department within the business. Our talent development activity ensures that we maintain a strong pipeline of managers to lead and grow the business. This is evidenced by a detailed succession plan and talent management programme, enabling us to fill circa 70 per cent of our management positions internally. Our training utilises a variety of development tools, maximising technology where appropriate. We combine our e learning platform, ACE On line and customer service training programme to provide training to all our employees from day one. These tools take people from learning about our purpose, vision and values at induction through to mastering a range of brand standards that ensure quality and speed of service are a focus for all team members.
Our talent attraction strategy ensures that we provide a compelling reason for experienced hospitality team members to join the Group. During the last year two highly experienced senior operations managers have joined the business from other organisations within the sector. The balance of developing internal talent with a strong attraction strategy for experienced individuals from outside the Group is helping to broaden the skills and knowledge base of the teams.
For those wishing to progress, our career development path is clearly outlined in My Career Portfolio (“MCP”), taking ambitious team members from first-line supervisor roles to general manager and area manager positions. Twice a year, we recruit new talent to our Academy programme, selected through an assessment centre selection process; we ensure that the top talent joins our next cohort of future managers and induct them at a two-day development centre, followed up by pairing them with a dedicated mentor and regular reviews with their general manager. All management groups within the operations team have their own dedicated annual conference. The purpose of these conferences is to set the direction for the year to come, create a strong network amongst peers and ensure that the purpose, vision and values of the business are embedded into the actions taken on the back of the events.
Using a blend of in-house and third-party provision, the Group ran around 110 days of classroom-based management development training courses during FY18, providing access to full-day training courses to over 1,500 people. This was supplemented by e-learning programmes. The Group is committed to equal opportunities and the elimination of discrimination, harassment and victimisation of employees. Of our workforce, 44 per cent are female and 56 per cent are male.
In addition to competitive pay rates, there is a suite of reward and incentive schemes, investing around one per cent of turnover annually. Further, all employees are able to join the Group’s stakeholder pension plan, as well as obtain tax-efficient childcare vouchers. All team members are entitled to a 50 per cent discount on food and drink purchased within our bars. An employee assistance programme is provided to all managers to assist them with issues that might be impacting their wellbeing.
The Group’s performance as an employer is measured twice yearly through our internal “Quality of Life” survey. The surveys have been linked with our customer feedback platform, in order to identify ways to not only improve employee engagement but to provide a direct link to how this can enhance the customer experience.
The Group supports practices which promote responsible drinking and has established its own “Responsible Alcohol Retailing Policy”, supported by staff training and monitoring. The Group’s pricing models are set so as to avoid deeply discounting products. Events are promoted responsibly and are accompanied by individual risk assessments. A number of bars enter local “Best Bar None” schemes (run by local authorities and the police to encourage good behaviour in town centres), promoting a safe and secure environment.
The Group continuously aims to improve the quality of its food offering and provide customers with the required information about its products to allow them to make informed decisions about their food consumption. This includes providing allergen and calorie information for all dishes via our website. Products not containing gluten or meat are advertised on the printed menu. Full training is provided to bar teams to enable them to deal with customer queries and prevent cross-contamination. The Group sets out strict specifications for all products so that high standards of quality are met.
The new food menu launched in Revolution bars in September 2018 contains a significant number of dishes appropriate for vegetarians, vegans and those with other food intolerances, in order to appeal to this increasing market trend, which resonates with a significant proportion of our customer base.
Early in 2018, the Group decided that, as part of its social responsibility agenda, it should support a nominated charity. In direct response to feedback from a significant number of our employees, Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, was selected and the Group has formally committed to raise £100,000 on behalf of the charity in the year. Our employees told us that homelessness was a matter of serious concern to them given the frequency with which they encounter those who are homeless on their way home when they leave our venues late at night. Most of the funds committed will be raised by our employees undertaking sponsored events.
The Group also has a programme designed to promote other charitable activity within its workforce. The scheme, called “You raise it, we match it”, rewards funds raised by staff for other charities and matches what they have raised.
The Group endeavours to conduct its business in a way that is sympathetic to the environment. Where possible, glassware and bottles are recycled as is cardboard packaging. All new sites and major refurbishment projects include fitting energy-efficient lighting and other control devices in order to minimise energy consumption. Smart meters have been fitted throughout our estate to allow monitoring of consumption on a daily basis. During the year, the Group appointed Energise as its energy consultants to work with the Group on all aspects of minimising energy consumption and the cost of energy.
We report Scope 1 and 2 emissions defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol as follows:
- Scope 1 (direct emissions): combustion of fuel and operation of facilities; and
- Scope 2 (indirect emissions): combustion purchased electricity, heat or steam.
The reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is for the 52 weeks ended 30 June 2018 to mirror our financial reporting period. Reporting follows the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013 and uses conversion factors published by DEFRA.
| Emission type | 2017-2018 CO2e tonnes |
| Scope 1: operation of facilities | – |
| Scope 1: combustion | 1,836 |
| Total Scope 1 emissions | 1,836 |
| Scope 2: Purchased Energy | 10,303 |
| Total Scope 2 emissions | 10,303 |
| Total emissions | 12,139 |
| Greenhouse gas emissions intensity ratio | 85.5 t/£m |
| Revenue (£m) – calendar year | 141.9 |
- This includes emissions under Scope 1 and 2, except where stated, but excludes any emissions from Scope 3.
- We exclude fugitive emissions from our operation of facilities reported number due to the availability of records.
- This report is based upon location-based factors.
The Group has in place an anti-bribery and corruption policy that has been approved by the Board and communicated through all heads of department and their teams. The policy requires transparency and the maintenance of an entertainment register that is regularly reviewed by the Board. Key suppliers have also been made aware of the policy.
The Group has in place an anti-slavery policy that has been approved by the Board. Suppliers are required to acknowledge the Group’s policy and their obligation to adhere to it as part of any contractual arrangements.
The Group does not have a formal human rights policy but it is committed to conducting business with integrity and fairness.
This statement is made for the purpose of complying with Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 ("the Act") and is to be interpreted in accordance with that Act.