Hospitality: Typical employers

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Hotels and other accommodation providers, restaurants, bars, conference and event organisers, contract caterers and hospitality service providers are the main employers. These can be of any size and can be independently owned or part of a larger chain.

The hospitality industry is represented by a number of professional bodies. For more information, see contacts and resources.

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Big players

Whitbread Plc

Most well known as a brewery and for owning many pubs across the UK , but they also have: hotels, including Premier Travel Inn; restaurants, including the Brewers Fayre and Beefeater brands; and coffee shops, including Costa Coffee. They have over 45,000 employees (Trends and Statistics 2006, British Hospitality Association). They have a dedicated graduate training scheme, as well as many direct-entry positions within each of their brands.

Compass Group

Specialise in providing food service options to educational institutions, hospitals and leisure facilities. They employ over 400,000 people across the functions and operate recognisable brands such as Upper Crust, Caffe Ritazza and Harry Ramsdens. Compass also offer a dedicated graduate training scheme.

Hilton International

A globally recognised employer, with hotels in over 80 countries worldwide. They have over 14,000 employees in the UK and Ireland alone. Hilton offers the ‘Elevator’ graduate training scheme for career areas, including hotel management, event organisation, finance, HR, sales, marketing, distribution and e-commerce. Hilton also offers an ongoing training scheme, the ‘Hilton University’, which aims to train up staff for progression within the company.

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

SMEs are organisations with less than 250 employees and an annual turnover of around £26million. Working for a smaller company can be rewarding because you are more likely to forge a path for yourself within the company, although opportunities to try other departments may be limited.

SMEs are unlikely to use the testing and assessment techniques of larger companies, or follow lengthy recruitment procedures. SMEs are more likely to advertise their vacancies through the local press, university careers service bulletins, local graduate vacancy listings, jobcentres, and word of mouth, rather than rely on their reputation and a presence at graduate recruitment fairs.

Your university careers service should have listings of jobs with small firms; see also Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The large majority of companies in the hospitality sector are independently owned hotels, restaurants and events companies. Many of these are classed as SMEs.

Self-employment

Self-employment is common in the sector. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force survey (2007), over 14% of all people working within the hospitality sector were self-employed. You may want to start your own business; almost 85% of hotels and restaurants are independently owned and operated. (British Hospitality Association, 2006).

Previous work experience would be beneficial before starting out. Freelance work is common in event organisation in particular.

Find out more about self-employment.