This also goes far beyond the guests we cater for, it’s at the core of our business. We believe that embracing difference is not only the right thing, it’s the smart thing. Diversity in people creates diversity of thought, and diversity of thought leads to new ways of thinking and doing.

So we aren’t just accepting of difference, we value it and we welcome it with open arms.

We’re committed to supporting all our colleagues, including those from under-represented groups such as those who are ethnically diverse, identify as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans, non-binary or use another term, and people with disabilities. Whilst we have made significant progress in the last 12 months, we recognise we have more to do, to be both more diverse and more inclusive – and we won’t rest easy until we achieve these.

In 2020 we made eight commitments to change:

1. Greater representation through stretching targets around gender and ethnicity in our senior leadership roles in the business
   
2. Review our recruitment processes, particularly at mid-management level
   
3. Invest more in diverse talent for the future
   
4. Complete our first ethnicity pay gap and share our findings with our teams
5. Support our teams with knowledge and skills to be confident and capable in this topic
   
6. Amplify the voices of our minorities through networks and forums, such as GLOW (LGBTQ+ and newly formed Race, Religion and Cultural Heritage, Gender Equality and Disability groups)
   
7. Review our organisational policies to ensure they are inclusive. For example, we’ve just introduced a new policy allowing our team members to transfer Bank Holidays to other religious holidays, and signing up to the Halo Collective as part of our appearance policy
   
8. Celebrate a wider range of cultural events within our business – we have recently celebrated Black History Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, International Women’s Day alongside religious festivals such as Diwali, Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan.

We also signed the Prince’s responsible business network Business In The Community’s ‘Race at Work Charter’ and are working to implement its five calls to action to tackle barriers that ethnic minority people can face.

Gender equality continues to be an area of commitment.  View our latest Gender Pay Gap report.

We’re committed to doing more, and we look forward to sharing our progress with you as we continue on this journey.