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French hotel group Accor has won ‘Employer of the Year’ at the Mayor’s Fund for London Awards, which celebrates youth employment in London.
Hosted on March 12, Accor won the Employer of the Year award for best demonstrating an understanding of the “systematic problem” of youth unemployment (16-24) in London, the needs of young people with regards to employment and the steps they have taken to reduce the effects.
The judges, which included Harvey McGrath, deputy chair of the London Enterprise Panel and Will Gore, deputy managing editor at the London Evening Standard, said they were “impressed” with Accor’s ‘Hospitality Futures’ programme.
The programme is a nine week initial course which includes five weeks of classroom training and on-the-job experience, with the aim of securing every participant a job at the end. Annually the scheme offers 25 unemployed people, aged 18-24, a starting job in the hospitality industry.
Philip Addison, vice president human resources at Accor UK & Ireland, said: “We are very proud of our Hospitality Futures programme which is now in its third year and helps unemployed young people take their first steps into a career in our industry.
“Accor’s Hospitality Futures programme has been successful in changing young employed people’s lives for the better and we’ve really seen positive effects on a group of people that others would normally overlook.”
