A Shropshire hotel has launched a major recruitment campaign to meet demand as it continues to follow the Government roadmap out of lockdown.
The Best Western Valley Hotel at Ironbridge is looking to fill several positions, with the promise of further jobs also available as the summer progresses.
It comes at a time when the hospitality industry is struggling nationally to come to terms with a shortage of workers after more than a year of on-off lockdowns. A recent BBC report said an estimated one in 10 people had left the sector in search of alternative employment over the last year.
Industry association UKHospitality said their survey of hundreds of hospitality operators showed the shortage of front-of-house staff and chefs is particularly acute, with 80% of those surveyed reporting vacancies for front-of-house roles, such as waiting and bar staff, and 85% are in need of chefs. Some 47% have housekeeping vacancies and 43% are looking for assistant or general managers.
The survey suggests a current vacancy rate across the sector of 9% – which implies a shortage of 188,000 workers.
The drive by The Valley is a vital part of the hotel’s plans to ensure staffing levels are sufficient to meet an increasing number of enquiries from customers as the hospitality industry gets back to normal.
Lisa Snape, Sales and Marketing Manager at the Best Western Valley Hotel, said: “Things are moving along nicely now and we have dates to work to in respect of the unlocking of the hospitality industry. We are delighted to be welcoming guests back and things are already looking really busy.
“We’ve had an exceptional start following our re-opening and it has been wonderful to welcome people from all over the UK – we’ve had car club meets, golfers staying, friends and families reuniting and of course weddings and celebrations.
“It means we have positions we need to fill now and there will be other jobs available as events increase over the coming months.
“We have vacancies for bar staff, waiting on staff, a laundry assistant, breakfast supervisor, part-time night porter and breakfast waiting on staff and would love to hear from anyone who would like the opportunity to work at The Valley – we offer a fantastic work/life balance which we are so proud of. We are like one big family here and there’s career progression opportunities for all.
“So many venues are recruiting right now but this is actually quite unique for us as our staff stay with us for so long – I, for example, have been here 28 years!
“Many people have moved out of hospitality across the country during lockdown and we know the industry has lost some fantastic talent – we want people to now re-enter the industry or start their exciting career with us.
“The culture of a venue is what will make people stay and that is why our staff have been with us for so long and were eager to get back as soon as they could.”
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/pg/ValleyHotelIronbridge/jobs/?ref=page_internal or call the hotel on 01952 432247 or email sales@thevalleyhotel.co.uk
