London, UK: Two veteran hospitality directors have launched a recruitment business to bring a global pool of fully vetted talent into UK hospitality businesses.

Hospitality Talent UK (HTUK) is the brainchild of Ed Grimes, formerly of Pret, EAT. and Greggs, and Ed Godwin, ex Monsoon, EAT., and Carluccio’s. The two worked together on the board of EAT. between 2007 and 2017, as Director of Operations and People Director respectively.  

The new business draws upon a network of recruitment partners across seven countries, with more partners and countries being added all the time. Any role that qualifies for the Skilled Worker visa can be recruited through HTUK, including all levels of management, chefs, bakers, patisserie chefs and other specialists.

HTUK supports employers in obtaining a Skilled Worker Sponsorship Licence and candidates with obtaining a visa through their partnership with leading London law firm, Quastels, making the whole process of recruiting globally, simple, and accessible to businesses of any size. Employers play a flat fee per role, which does not increase with salary.

An early user of the business is London’s leading healthy-eating chain, Tossed, who have begun recruiting store managers through HTUK. Its Managing Director, Neil Sebba said: “It’s early days, but I am hugely impressed with the quality of talent available through HTUK. We’re enjoying working with Ed and the team at HTUK and they have helped to build a team around us to get our accreditation and first recruits in just a few months. Recruitment for our sector in the UK remains hugely challenging, and it’s a refreshing, cost-effective and quality solution that they offer.”

Supported by AI, prospective candidates are fully vetted and matched against each role, and behavioural specialists, Poppyfish, have been brought in to provide candidate profiling to ensure a good fit with prospective employers. HTUK do not charge candidates any fees, unlike some recruiters.  Once a role has been accepted, candidates are given access to specialist and reputable property providers, who advise on location and rents. HTUK has also set up a support network amongst candidates and maintains contact with recruits throughout the lifetime of their employment.

Ed Grimes, says: “Having been involved in several hospitality startups since Brexit, I have first-hand experience of how difficult it is to recruit skilled hospitality professionals. Employers are having to pay over market rates to recruit staff, particularly chefs, and then having to increase the wages of their existing team to maintain morale or risk losing staff to competitors. It is simply not sustainable.

“HTUK is resolving this issue for hospitality employers by creating access to a global network of skilled talent who are ready to work in the UK. We’ve given considerable thought to the hurdles faced by those recruiting and by partnering with expert lawyers have created an accessible, cost-effective and sustainable solution.”

Ed Godwin adds: “I have always taken great pride in being part of a sector which is made up of teams from around the world. Just because that has become more difficult, doesn’t mean we should lose the benefits of having a global and diverse workforce.

“This year for the first time we saw the number of job vacancies across the UK overtake the number of unemployed. Simply put, there is not enough available talent in the UK to meet demand. HTUK sets out to provide some much-needed stability to the hospitality sector. We make it easy for more companies to achieve extended reach via our network of talent across the globe.”