Scarborough’s Grand Hotel joins the Disability Confident Scheme

The Disability Confident Scheme aims to create a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and long-term health conditions and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. It was developed by employers and disabled people’s representatives to make it rigorous but easily accessible.

Mark Johnston General Manager and Andrew Tunstall Rooms Division Manager at The Grand Hotel wanted to share their recent experience of signing up to the Governments Disability Confident Scheme and met with Scarborough Jobcentre Recruitment Managers Bronwen Goodwin and Janine Merritt to talk about their experiences in the hope that it would encourage other employers to follow suit.

Mark Johnston explained “As Branch Chair for North Yorkshire CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), part of my role is to organise events for Scarborough CIPD members and non-members, I contacted Bron & Janine who arranged for a Disability Employment Adviser to deliver a session on Disability Confident scheme and Access To Work scheme. We also work with local Autism Charities and the amazing recruitment team at Scarborough Jobcentre to help us find the right people for the large number of roles that we need at the hotel.”

He wanted to share the benefits of the Disability Confident scheme with other employers and went on to say, “There was a realisation that we were doing these things already, so it was about recognising what we have in place and how we could develop and move up through the scheme to help with our recruitment, retention and longevity of service in our teams.”

Speaking about the Disability Confident Scheme Mark Johnston said, “We’d encourage other employers to look at what they already have in place and showcase their commitment by following the simple & straightforward processes.”

Andrew Tunstall said “The Grand is an icon of Scarborough, and we are committed to being part of the wider community and open to exploring ways to bring meaningful employment for those with disabilities as I firmly believe there’s a job for everyone.” Andrew went on to say “Bron and Janine at Jobcentre Plus have been nothing but supportive with our recruitment both seasonal and fixed, they have taken the time to understand our needs, anyone not sure about the service JCP offer, reach out to your local centre today!.”

If you would like to find out more about signing your organisation up to the Disability Confident Scheme you can read about the initial registration steps which can be taken online at gov.uk/disability-confident or by visiting the link Sign up to become Disability Confident Committed

Bron & Janine Recruitment Managers at Scarborough Jobcentre said “We really value our relationship with The Grand and their busy interview days in our office offer great opportunities for our customers. We also support many other employers with their recruitment, and we’re proud of the work that we do to promote schemes like the Disability Confident Scheme so it’s so rewarding to see an employer at the heart of our community not only sign up to the initial level but work hard to move up to the next stage”

Janine and Bron went on to say “We always want to help employers access the widest pool of talent and would encourage employers with vacancies or questions about the Disability Confident Scheme to reach out to us to see how we can help” by ringing 0800 169 0178 or www.gov.uk/jobcentre-plus-help-for-recruiters