Stonegate Pub Company’s HR team recently took over the running of one of their busiest sites, the Slug and Lettuce in Brindley Place, Birmingham and enjoyed over 50% increase in sales.

Whilst the regular team at the Slug and Lettuce were enjoying the thrills and spills at Alton Towers – their prize for winning Stonegate’s Best of the Best employer competition – the HR team were experiencing spills of another kind as they took over the running of bar for the day.

After the company’s success of being named Best Employer 50+ at the Publican Awards earlier this year, Stonegate wanted to find their best of the best. The award was based on a number of criteria where general managers had to prove how they had cultivated a talent pipeline, how they ensured that every team member knew the positive role they made in contributing to a successful business and to show how they were the best employer through engagement with their teams.

Lee Woolley, Head of Learning and Development at Stonegate Pub Company said: “A number of entries were submitted into the Best of the Best employer competition and the calibre was fantastic. We gave them free rein in terms of how they presented their case to prove why they should win the award and we were delighted with the innovation that shone through. The team at Slug and Lettuce in Birmingham won because their entry entered captured the fun spirit of the competition and demonstrated that they are a ‘true’ team, all working together as one.

“The HR team had a fantastic day at the Slug and Lettuce and we were delighted that we made a positive contribution to the bar’s bottom line. We even managed to book a few Christmas parties for the Slug and Lettuce team in the process!”