They've bagged a place on the prestigious Sunday Times list
Liverpool-based Red and Blue Restaurants, the group behind the Bacaro, Salt House Tapas, Hanover Street Social and Rocket and Ruby brands have made it onto The Sunday Times '100 Best Small Companies to Work For 2019'.
The hospitality company was placed at number 88 on the list and achieved a Best Companies top score of a 3* accreditation which recognises their extraordinary levels of employee engagement. They were the only hospitality company to do so in this notoriously difficult category.
This award means so much to us...
The Liverpool-based group was established in Liverpool in 2010, by Jonathan Poole and Paddy Smith.
“This award means so much to us,” said Paddy. “Being a great place to work and investing in our staff has always been our top priority, which showed in our results that over 90% of employees are proud to work here. We have excellent progression, pay, benefits, incentives and over half of our senior staff are females.”
Red and Blue Restaurants currently employs 92 members of staff, with an average age of 28. They have recently announced ambitious growth plans and have appointed Steve Stuart, a new non-executive director to the team, to oversee the next phase of its development which include plans to expand Bacaro into Manchester later this year.
Insights revealed that 94% of staff had confidence in the leadership skills of the senior management team with many commending the directors for their hands-on approach and leading by example. Feedback suggested ‘they’re always visible in the company, offering any help they can. They know staff by first names, hold weekly team meetings with each site, and monthly manager meetings to review figures, incentives and news.’
79% of staff agreed that they were happy with the pay and benefits. The firm offer a loyalty bonus of a week’s wage after one year of continued employment and an employee of the month award for each site. They also offer various incentives and rewards for staff who receive a favourable mention on TripAdvisor or other social media platforms.
Jonathan Austin, CEO and Founder of Best Companies said, “I would like to congratulate Red and Blue Restaurants on your achievement. Best Companies have been producing the accreditation standard since 2006 to acknowledge excellence in the workplace, organisations like Red and Blue Restaurants have contributed to focus on their employees and have been rewarded with an engaged workforce who tell us that this is a best company to work for.”
With four different, independently named restaurants in Liverpool, a number of new openings and exciting projects coming up over the next twelve months and a recent young chef of the year award, the next 12 months should be a lot to look forward to for Red and Blue Restaurants and its employees.
