Stakeholder perspectives on hospitality in the UK

The aim of this report is to provide an overview of stakeholders‘ perspectives of work quality in the UK hospitality sector. Employing an estimated 2.4 million across a diverse range of occupations within hotels, restaurants, event management and catering, and with a turnover of around £90 billion a year, the hospitality sector makes a substantial contribution towards the UK economy (Oxford Economics, 2010). Catering, the selected subsector for the WALQING project, involves the provision of food to workers in business and industry, and to workers and the general public in educational institutions, healthcare institutions, local authorities, prisons, defence and other not-for-profit outlets (British Hospitality Association, 2010a). Three stakeholders were invited to discuss employment conditions and trends in the broader sector and in catering, including a trade union, a trade association for hospitality organisations, and a sector skills council responsible for skill provision in hospitality and the closely aligned tourism industry.