48 DEBATE


Celia Gaze – founder of The Wellbeing Farm


We’ve ridden the post-Covid trend of wellbeing as well as the focus we now see on sustainability.


We were ahead of the trends; we were thinking about wellbeing before it became big and we’ve always been sustainable. That has been really helpful for us when it comes to innovation.


We’re using AI and importing an AI marketing system at the moment. We’re also getting good results promoting with the Eventbrite platform.


The business model is slightly changing, it is about not putting all your eggs in one basket, and we are doing more corporate work than ever before. Our B Corp certification has helped massively with that.


We brand ourself as a unique, fun, sustainable venue. You get what you see on the tin.


When it comes to recruiting, people just don’t turn up for interviews. So, we don’t hold interviews at set times – we have an open hour when people have to turn up. We call it ‘speed interviewing’. All the staff are involved, and all ask a question like in a speed dating process, it works really well.


We find more people are coming to us because of the sustainability and the B Corp. They want something more and we’re venturing into the social entrepreneur field.


Nicola Clayton – Director of business development and external engagement at Blackburn College


As a college we’re committed to the sector. We see it as a key part of the college, hence why we have invested a high level of funding, around £1.4m, as well as time and support into the area and we will continue to do so.


Engaging with businesses and hearing what they are facing in the sector is really important because it helps us shape the curriculum. Getting our students out into places where we can give them inspiration and aspiration is absolutely critical.


It is a people industry and it is about making sure young people have got a place in the right kind of environment to develop.


Working with schools is also key because we want to make sure we are attracting people into the sector. We run a young chefs programme every year with schools in the area to get them thinking about the industry. We are trying to create a pipeline.


We want to show parents that we’re getting people into jobs and there are career opportunities. And it is not just about young people; it is also about upskilling people of all ages in organisations to enable them to move up and develop.


You can produce a beautiful plate of


food but if the service is lousy and people are rude, your plate isn’t going to make them come back


Darren Chaisty – co-owner of North Star Projects and The Ship Inn at Caton


I spent years of my previous corporate life travelling to different countries


around the world where hospitality is treated with real respect and as a profession.


You are waited on in US restaurants by men in their fifties who are genuinely proud of what they’re doing, the food and the service they are providing.


It really matters what people experience when they go for food or stay in a hotel.


We took over a pub that had been shut for four months and with a very limited budget set ourselves the task of getting it going again.


That was 14 months ago. It took longer than expected but it is not costing us money anymore, which is good. It is a nice, country dining pub and we get great reviews.


We’ve recruited a nice group and we’re looking to keep them by asking for their ideas and getting them all involved in the running of the business.


Good food can’t make up for bad service and vice-versa. It is about the people doing the job and a satisfied team who want to enjoy their role and get something out of it. It’s a job for people who get real joy out of making other people happy.


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