Better Hospitality - Turning Insight into Action
Lorraine Copes, Founder & CEO, Be Inclusive Hospitality
Hospitality has long been recognised as one of the UK’s most diverse industries. It creates opportunities, builds careers and brings together people from a wide range of cultures, backgrounds and experiences.
However, a diverse workforce does not automatically create an inclusive workplace or guarantee equal access to opportunity.
On Monday 28 September, Be Inclusive Hospitality will launch Better Hospitality – a new report and framework designed to support a fairer, stronger and more inclusive hospitality industry.
Better Hospitality brings together sector-wide research and the expertise of senior industry leaders. It explores pay, career progression and workplace experience, with a particular focus on race and ethnicity.
The report comes at a challenging time for hospitality. Rising employment costs, changing legislation, recruitment pressures and high employee turnover are forcing businesses to make difficult decisions about their people and operations. Within this environment, inclusion can easily be treated as a separate concern or something to revisit when conditions improve.
Better Hospitality makes the case that it must be part of the response.
When people do not feel valued, cannot see a path forward or experience inconsistency in how workplace policies are applied, employers risk losing talent, knowledge and future leaders. Creating a culture of fairness, inclusion and belonging is therefore not only a social responsibility, but also central to building a resilient and sustainable workforce.
Six Areas of Concern for the Hospitality Industry
Through our research and discussions with the Better Hospitality Leadership Group, six interconnected areas emerged as requiring greater attention:
- Data
- Resource
- Training
- Representation
- Policy
- Collaboration
The report examines the barriers within each area and considers what needs to change for good intentions to become meaningful and measurable progress.
It also includes practical case studies from hospitality employers, illustrating how businesses are beginning to address some of these challenges. These examples are not presented as evidence that the work is complete. Instead, they offer honest insight into what organisations have tried, what they have learned and where they intend to focus next.
Better Hospitality is not a ranking system or a one-size-fits-all solution. It provides a shared direction while recognising that organisations will begin from different places and require different approaches.
The ambition is to move beyond awareness and towards informed action, supported by evidence, accountability and greater collaboration across the industry.
No individual employer can transform hospitality alone.
Change happens when we move together.
Join us on 28 September 2026
If you would like to join us for the release of the Better Hospitality resources and are keen to join the conversation, you can register via the link here.
The details:
Date: Monday 28 September
Time: 09:00am –12:00pm
Location: Leonardo Royal Hotel London, Tower Bridge