Old Stocks Inn among the Best Places to Work in Hospitality 2018

The Old Stocks Inn in Stow-on-the-Wold have been announced in The Caterer's 'Best Places to Work in Hospitality 2018'. The hotel have taken the 8th place in this year's, recognising them as one of the best in the industry.

The Old Stocks Inn operates within a 17th century coaching inn which lies in the heart of the stunning Cotswolds National Park. The Inn consists of a bar and restaurant along with their 16-bedroom boutique hotel which has recently been refurbished to incredible standards. Reclaiming the majority of the special 17th century features of the building was key to the redevelopment. Filling the space with bespoke furniture or each room matching the bespoke nature of the menu holders in the restaurant, had crafted by Smart Hospitality Supplies.

The Inn has up to 30 employees in high season with the average employee having served for 2.2 years. This represents an incredibly low staff turnover of 16%. Purple Cubed and The Caterer asked staff to take an anonymous survey rating their employer on many key areas of employment. These categories included communication, respect for work-life balance and the teams having respect for each other.

90% of the staff that took the survey responded to say that they had a good work-life balance. Kitchen staff work 48 hours maximum per week whilst the front of house team receive paid overtime in addition to their 42-hour contacts. On top of this, staff reported a range of perks. These include 28 days' holiday plus their birthday and one other special day. Staff receive breakfasts and 'group meals' whilst on duty, this is said to play a big part in their high levels of communication and respect between each other. On top of this, The Old Stocks Inn is dedicated to allowing staff to develop themselves, allowing them access to an online training platform and in-house training.

Owner, Jim Cockell, recognises good service and provides these perks along with motivational initiatives to inspire staff to take a personal interest in the businesses success. Staff can receive employee of the month awards with rewards of self-development, such as cocktail classes and hotel stays.

Each of the companies within the top 30 were recognised as giving employees the tools to progress their careers, and understanding the ambitions and needs of each member of staff by introducing rewards and well structured plans to get the most out of each individual.