Friday Five: the week's top news
- McDonald’s has signed a legal agreement with the equality watchdog to better protect its UK staff from sexual harassment following a report that detailed a ‘toxic culture’ that saw ‘at least 1,000 women abused and predatory employees moved to different stores rather than sacked’. Workers at the fast food giant's sites across the country have detailed a catalogue of abuse and harassment to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), which was reported by The Independent newspaper in 2019. Allegations range from managers making repeated sexual comments, brushing up against staff and discussing sexual desires, to abusing their access to workers’ contact details in order to send texts and explicit photos, and even offering better hours and promotion in return for sex. As a result, McDonald’s Restaurants Limited has signed a legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in response to concerns about the handling of sexual harassment complaints made by staff in its UK restaurants.
- Macellaio RC founder Roberto Costa will launch a restaurant in Canary Wharf this spring that puts ‘ultra seasonal’ British fish and game centre stage. Fish Game will be headed by the steak-focused group’s executive chef Lello Favuzzi, whose cooking CV includes Mortimer House and L’Anima. Details about the restaurant's menu format or price point have yet to be released, but Fish Game is understood to be a more premium and ambitious proposition than Macellaio RC.
- East London’s Satan’s Whiskers has topped this year’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars list. The ‘unassuming’ Bethnal Green bar is renowned for its daily-changing cocktail list and a team that prides itself on providing excellent service and great music ‘embodying the ideal neighbourhood bar’. Last year’s winner Lab-22, in Cardiff, took second while the number three spot went to London’s Tayēr + Elementary, also in East London. This year’s highest climber hails from Bournemouth, with Ojo Rojo rising 31 places to number 15 on this year’s list.
- Apprenticeship 'success stories' from hospitality groups including Greene King, Mitchells & Butlers, Pizza Express and Whitbread are to feature as part of a new Government campaign. Apprenticeships in both hospitality and catering will be showcased as part of the Government’s Career Starter Apprenticeships campaign, which has been launched to coincide with National Apprenticeship Week (6 – 12 February). Other hospitality business involved in the campaign include Compass Group and Hilton, with the materials set to be promoted in schools and colleges across the country.
- Restaurants across the UK have helped raise £750,000 between them for homeless charity StreetSmart. The 2022 StreetSmart Christmas campaign, which was supported by some 550 restaurants and gave diners the option to add a voluntary £1 per table donation to their bills during November and December, raised over £50,000 more than it did last year. All money raised through the scheme contributes to 'achieving impactful social change by supporting people rough sleeping and those in unsuitable accommodation'.
For more of this week's headlines, click here.
