North Yorkshire marketing agency serves up campaign to boost hospitality

A marketing agency in North Yorkshire is working on a nation-wide campaign to boost the crisis-hit hospitality sector.

The fabl, based at Broughton Hall near Skipton, is supporting the Hospitality Rising Campaign, to tackle the issue of 400,000 vacancies across the sector.

The recruitment campaign is the biggest the industry has ever undertaken and is spearheaded by marketing specialist Mark McCulloch (pictured) of Supersonic Inc. It aims to change the perception of hospitality and is supported by a host of chefs and businesses including Tom Kerridge, Pret a Manger, Fortnum & Mason and Claridge’s.

Alex Hinge, creative copywriter, at the fabl said: “It’s exciting to be working alongside Mark, who is an incredible force within marketing. He’s assembled an impressive team to work on the campaign including Google's lead creative agency Forever Beta and VCCP plus behavioural economist Rory Sutherland and ex-Army lead recruitment brand strategist Matt Waksman, who both work at Ogilvy. We’re delighted to be part of such a vibrant creative line-up and are looking forward to sharing the many ideas we have to help the campaign make a huge impact.”

Head of business development at the fabl, Liz Smailes, said: “We know how important hospitality is across Yorkshire and how much our region benefits from the sector thriving, including many of our own clients. Finding a way forward post pandemic and post Brexit is crucial. Hospitality is an area in which we have significant expertise and we’re delighted to be involved with this campaign.”

The Hospitality Rising Campaign has been backed by the Hospitality & Tourism Sector Skills Board (HTSB), UKHospitality, the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

Mark said: "To be approved as the industry's official campaign and response to the recruitment crisis is amazing. It means we can really accelerate what we are doing with Hospitality Rising – we can now go stratospheric. This will allow us to drive our message out to the UK public, tell all our fabulous stories and make hospitality a positive career choice for the very many, not the few."

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: "The campaign cannot come soon enough. Many of our members are struggling with a significant level of vacancies; this campaign will enable hospitality to stage a vital intervention, and turn on a generation to the rich and varied roles and career pathways that our vibrant industry offers."

UKHospitality figures have suggested 400,000 vacancies across the hospitality sector and a further 100,000 staff absences, meaning that day-to-day the industry is missing half a million workers; more than 20% of the workforce.