Bury St Edmunds pub giant, Greene King, scoops top award for its recruitment policies

Bewery giant Greene King has scooped a top spot at a social mobility award ceremony.

The 2023 UK Social Mobility Awards Gala took place on October 12 at the Royal Lancaster, London Hotel.

Bury St Edmunds based Greene King took home the winning trophy for the Recruitment Programme of the Year category.

The gala evening was organised by Making The Leap, and saw organisations and institutions committed to advancing social mobility across the UK come together to celebrate their work and share best practice.

Greene King was praised for its efforts to provide opportunities for disadvantaged groups such as prison leavers, and those with special educational needs.

The company says it is committed to pursuing social mobility recruitment, which will be one of is one of its business strategy drivers in its Untapping Potential Report.;

The UK Social Mobility Awards were set up to recognise organisations that are prioritising social mobility, through recruitment processes and progression programmes, outreach within the local community, or by developing innovative ways to create change.

This year’s judges included a panel of 25 leaders, chaired by Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE.

Judges included Amanda Mackenzie OBE, Karen Blackett OBE, and Steven Cooper CBE.

Graham Briggs, Head of apprenticeships and employability programmes at Greene King said: “At Greene King, we are committed to creating an inclusive workspace and a culture where everyone's individuality and difference is celebrated.

“Winning this award shines a spotlight on our stand-out social mobility recruitment efforts. We are passionate about creating a work culture where people from disadvantaged, under-represented and minority backgrounds are given valuable opportunities and we want to ensure everyone feels they belong whilst learning new skills and fulfilling their potential.”

Tunde Banjoko OBE, Founder of the UK Social Mobility Awards, added: “The volume and quality of entries we’ve received for this year’s awards is a testament to the increasing significance of social mobility to UK businesses, which is exactly what we set out to achieve when we started the award seven years ago.

“We appreciate the support of all our partners and entrants for their important part in raising awareness of social mobility across the UK.”