Leading hospitality businesses have committed to take practical action to tackle the UK’s literacy challenge, improve social mobility and boost the economy by signing the National Literacy Forum’s Vision for Literacy Business Pledge 2017.
Now in its second year, the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge has been signed by 50 leading UK businesses, including McDonald’s, Costa Coffee and Sainsbury’s from the hospitality industry.
Each signatory has committed to helping raise literacy levels by taking clear action in three areas: within their workforce, in their local communities and at a national level.
Low literacy undermines the UK’s economic competitiveness and sustainability. Research from the CBI found that over a third (37%) of employers are dissatisfied with young people’s literacy skills, with 22% of employers having to provide remedial literacy training to school and college leavers. If the UK’s literacy challenge is not addressed, it could cost the economy £32.1 billion by 2025.
Further research shows that low literacy levels also create barriers to social mobility. Adults with functional literacy earn 16% more than those without and up to 35% of adults in the UK’s most deprived wards lack the literacy skills expected of an 11-year-old.
The hospitality industry signatories were also inaugural signatories of the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge 2016, and have increased their commitment to literacy in the past year:
- McDonald’s launched their new Happy Readers campaign, offering free extracts of the popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series in every Happy Meal
- Costa Coffee organised a Costa Reading Week, hosting events in stores and supporting local primary schools, with the donation of 30,000 books
- Sainsbury’s hosted in-store World Book Day events, promoting reading for enjoyment with dedicated reading corners in 20 stores across the country
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, says:
“Businesses play a vital part in helping improve literacy in the UK, increasing our economic competitiveness and improving social mobility. The UK’s low literacy levels are holding our economy back – if all children left primary school with good literacy skills, our future workforce and economy would be far stronger as a result. We’re delighted that the hospitality industry recognises the challenge the UK’s literacy levels pose and are taking practical action to tackle the problem on a national and local scale.”
Find out more about the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge here