‘Women Who Inspire’ awards launched to mark 100th anniversary of women’s vote

Bartlett mitchell, one of the UK’s leading independent caterers has launched ‘Women Who Inspire’ awards – in recognition of the 100th anniversary of women being given the right to vote.

The awards, running this year, aim to recognise women who have excelled professionally and inspired others to succeed or have succeeded themselves despite any personal challenges they may be facing.

Open to all women across the business, colleagues are being asked to nominate team members who they feel should be honoured for their ability to inspire and engage others.

The programme has been developed as part of a drive to recognise the role women play in hospitality, encouraging more to consider it as a career of choice and one where progression is supported.

As part of Government legislation to publish gender pay breakdown by April this year, bartlett mitchell has identified a 6 per cent mean gender pay difference between men and women, largely due to more men taking senior chef positions. Whilst significantly lower than both the industry and national averages, bartlett mitchell attributes this difference to the need to create better working environments for women to work, making hospitality a more attractive career option. These awards sit alongside a series of initiatives being developed by the company to facilitate the progression of female team members, including mentoring, leadership development and talent management.

Wendy Bartlett, founder of bartlett mitchell, said: “Whilst we are pleased that our figures are one of the lowest in the industry, we know there is still a long way to go to address issues for women in hospitality.

“I want women to know that, by working for bartlett mitchell, they have every opportunity to succeed on an equal footing and we will explore every avenue possible to make sure we create a working environment which enables women to develop and progress.”

She added: “We are all very passionate about recognising the role women have played in the growth of our business.

“We have fantastic and inspiring women who work across all levels of our company and we want them to know it’s appreciated. These women are vital to our development and, despite sometimes social challenges we are all aware of, they continue to deliver day in day out to makes a difference, with a smile on their face and a positive attitude.”

Ian Thomas, CEO, bartlett mitchell, added: “Our business has been built on the firm belief that gender should never be a barrier to progression. Our Founder is an inspiration within the business but it’s not just Wendy; we have many talented women who inspire us to be better at what we do every day. So many women will be excelling in their roles despite personal challenges they need to overcome on a daily basis. We want to recognise all of them.”