Bartlett Mitchell, one of the UK’s leading independent caterers, has secured its first ever Investors in People Gold Award, recognising its commitment to the development and training of its employees.
The award, the first of its kind for the business, means it becomes one of only 14% of accredited organisations who have achieved ‘Gold’ across the UK.
As part of the accreditation process, Bartlett Mitchell was assessed using a framework which measures against current workplace trends, essentials skills and effective structures.
The company was specifically commended for being one of the only foodservice businesses to offer all staff nationally recognised and accredited ‘Food Safety level 2’,and ‘Health and Safety Level 2’ qualifications as part of their formal training.
Bartlett Mitchell was also recognised for the development of an extensive training strategy which includes its Chef Academy, featuring workshops and masterclasses with Adam Byatt; weekly business webinar briefings and online learning modules; and a company-wide ‘Meet the Directors Day’ where every new starter meets the owners, directors and team leaders of the business.
The award follows a silver rating the company achieved when last accredited three years ago.
In the last year, Bartlett Mitchell has also been recognised by industry bodies such as the Sustainable Restaurant Association who, for the third year running, named the company as ‘Caterer of the year’ in its ‘Food Made Good’ awards; as well as the Association of Catering Excellence who presented the business with an ‘Ace Sustains’ award for its commitment to sustainability.
Ingrid Newbould, human resources director, Bartlett Mitchell, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and one that we are all very proud of. We know that our people make our business which is why we place great emphasis on helping them reach their potential through various training and development initiatives.
“Achieving IIP Gold is a great way to recognise the great amount of work achieved by each of our teams. It shows just how much work has been undertaken over the course of the last year.
“We’ve already got some incredibly exciting training plans in place for the coming year and look forward to developing our employee capability and engagement even further through the Bartlett Mitchell Training Academy.”
Paul Devoy, head of ‘Investors in People’, said: “We’d like to congratulate Bartlett Mitchell on their Gold standard. Such a high level of accreditation is the sign of great people management practice, and demonstrates a commitment to staff development and shows an organisation committed to being the very best it can be. The company should be extremely proud of their achievement.”