Brewhouse & Kitchen once again takes the craft beer and pub world by storm; taking wins in four categories at the NITA Bii Awards last night.

The winning categories include ‘Most Innovative Recruitment Strategy’, ‘Professional Trainer of the Year’ and ‘Best Managed Training Programme: Under 50’. In addition to a team-led hat-trick, CEO, Kris Gumbrell picked up the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.

The NITA awards are held to celebrate the people and companies propelling the hospitality industry to ever higher standards.

Since its inception, the team at Brewhouse & Kitchen have prided themselves on how they recruit, train and nurture every single one of their national community of employees. Examples of this being the Brewer Apprenticeship programme and the specialist programme. This specialist programme was launched in 2015 and has focused on developing mastery-knowledge and skills in areas such as service, beer, wine and spirits.

This initiative is fundamental to supporting the experience arm of the business and has been the source of their internal talent pool for on-site Brewers and Assistant managers.

Having trained over 170 people, and with a 75% retention of those who completed apprenticeships, the UK’s fastest-growing SME pub chain is continuing to grow from strength to strength.

At the awards ceremony last night, the company was rewarded for their recruitment strategies – Working with the local community in the form of schools, the over-50s market and the charity – Only a Pavement Away which helps put homeless people back into employment).

Brewhouse & Kitchen has bolstered its national talent acquisition approach by embedding within the local communities of each of its sites. They’ve introduced initiatives including inviting locals to events in their brew-pubs, to direct recruitment policies. Last night’s awards affirm how far Brewhouse & Kitchen have evolved since day one, and how they have kept ahead of the competitive curve in the current craft beer industry.

Lifetime achievement – Kris Gumbrell
Kris Gumbrell – Co-Founder and CEO of Brewhouse and Kitchen – boasts over 20 years’ experience in the pub and hospitality sector. Having founded Brewhouse & Kitchen in 2012 with his business partner Simon Bunn; in 2008, he left the relative safety of the corporate world and set up Convivial London Pubs, where he and Simon – who he had met in 1996 while the pair worked at Scottish & Newcastle – first experimented with the concept of brew-pubs.

Kris’ award demonstrates his commitment to the sector and its continued innovation. It also acknowledges his role in leading the charge for the UK’s first accredited brewing apprenticeship, to countless community-driven initiatives such as the work with Only A Pavement Away. A few reasons why this seven-year-old scale-up is the UK’s largest and fastest-growing independent brew-pub group.

Kris Gumbrell, CEO of Brewhouse & Kitchen comments on their recent award wins: “Here at Brewhouse & Kitchen we are delighted with the outcome of yesterday’s awards. Brewhouse & Kitchen have continuously strived to improve the brew-pub experience, not only for our customers but also for all of our teams across the nation.

The NITA awards serve as a great reminder as to how far we have come as a company, but also how this is not possible without such a first-class team. We cannot wait to see Brewhouse & Kitchen grow from strength to strength in the coming years, with our team positioned at the centre of this activity.”

Brewhouse & Kitchen – Information

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