Beyond Good Intentions

The Accessible Hospitality Alliance Forum, held at Barings in partnership with Thomas Franks, brought hospitality leaders, operators, employers, suppliers, accessibility specialists and people with lived experience together around the same tables.

A central message was that accessibility should no longer be treated simply as a compliance exercise. It needs the same strategic attention, investment and accountability that organisations increasingly give to sustainability.

The commercial case is also significant. Disabled people and their households have an estimated spending power of £274 billion a year. Yet many hotels still fail to provide accessible environments or clear information about what guests can expect. This can prevent disabled people from booking, whilst inaccessible workplaces can also limit the industry’s ability to recruit and retain talented employees.

The moral case for accessibility should be enough. The commercial evidence also challenges the idea that inclusion is an optional cost or something to consider only after every other priority has been addressed.

The Forum highlighted practical changes including clearer accessibility information on websites and booking platforms, access guides and virtual tours, meaningful staff training, engagement with disabled guests and employees, and senior access champions with the authority to turn intention into action.

Hospitality is built around the idea of welcome, but the people creating that welcome need to feel included too. Accessibility for guests and accessibility for employees are not separate ambitions. They depend on many of the same things: clear information, thoughtful environments, people who listen and systems that respond when a barrier is identified.

Hospitality workplaces can be fast, noisy, bright and unpredictable. Rotas may change, priorities can shift quickly and important information is often shared verbally in the middle of a busy service. None of this means neurodivergent people cannot thrive in hospitality. Many already do. It does mean that avoidable barriers can make the environment far harder than the work itself.

Clear recruitment information, transparent interviews, written follow-up, predictable communication, quieter spaces and flexible ways of working can make an enormous difference. They reduce the energy people spend interpreting unclear expectations, managing unnecessary uncertainty or masking the effect an environment is having on them.

The same is true for customers. Knowing what to expect before arriving can determine whether somebody feels able to make a booking at all. Clear information is not an extra. For many disabled and neurodivergent people, it is part of access.

Later in June, I attended the Disability Employment Charter's annual Parliamentary reception in the Churchill Room. Hosted by the DFN Charitable Foundation and sponsored by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the event marked the Charter reaching more than 300 signatory organisations since its launch in 2021. The room was filled with employers, policymakers, disability advocates and supporters who want to see substantive change.

We heard from Professor Kim Hoque, Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Lord Shinkwin and singer-songwriter Emmanuel Kelly, each reinforcing the need to keep pushing for ambitious and practical change.

The milestone was worth celebrating, but the mood was not one of complacency. The discussions were a reminder that the disability employment gap remains stark. Recent official analysis put the gap at 29.7 percentage points for people aged 16 to 64, and found that the long-term narrowing of the gap has stalled.

The Charter continues to press for mandatory disability employment and pay gap reporting, reform of Disability Confident and Access to Work, greater support for supported internships, and a two-week timeframe for employers to respond to reasonable adjustment requests.

These may sound like policy details, but each one has a direct effect on people's lives. An inaccessible recruitment process can exclude an excellent candidate before they have had the opportunity to show what they can contribute. A delayed adjustment can affect somebody's health, confidence, performance and ability to remain in work.

A two-week response would not mean that every request must be agreed exactly as presented. It would mean that an employee receives acknowledgement, a respectful conversation and a clear decision within a reasonable period. An adjustment that arrives after somebody has become unwell or left their job is not an effective adjustment.

A thoughtful manager can transform somebody's experience. Kindness, empathy and a willingness to listen matter deeply. But disabled and neurodivergent people should not have to rely on the luck of meeting the right manager, working for the right team or finding somebody willing to make an exception.

Individual care needs to be supported by accessible processes, knowledgeable leaders and clear accountability. A badge means little if recruitment remains inaccessible. An adjustment policy means little if nobody knows how to use it. A commitment to wellbeing means little if employees do not feel safe enough to explain what they need.

This was the strongest connection between the two events. The hospitality discussion called for accessibility to be measured, reported and owned at a senior level. The Parliamentary reception called for policy, reporting and response times that make employers accountable. Both recognised that good intentions are not a reliable system.

Reasonable adjustments will always be important because people have individual needs. However, organisations can remove many common barriers before a particular guest or employee has to disclose a condition, explain personal information or make a formal request.

In my work through Seats at the Table, I often encourage organisations to look at the whole journey. What information does someone receive before they arrive or apply? Do they know what to expect? Can they communicate or participate in different ways? Are changes explained clearly? Is there somewhere calmer to pause? If they need support, is the route to getting it simple and respectful?

These considerations improve customer experience, recruitment, retention and workplace culture. They also allow more of a person's energy to go into enjoying an experience or doing the job they were employed to do.

I left both events encouraged by the number of people working for change, from hospitality leaders and people sharing lived experience to charities, employers, trade unions and policymakers.

I also left with a renewed sense that progress depends on the detail. Inclusion is shaped by whether information is easy to find, how a job advert is written, whether a manager follows up a conversation, how quickly an adjustment is considered and whether somebody is met with patience rather than suspicion.

That is what a seat at the table means to me. It is not simply being invited into the room. It is being able to participate, contribute and thrive once you are there.

Further reading

Accessible Hospitality Alliance: Commercial reality exposed

Contract Catering Magazine: Hospitality should recognise accessibility opportunity

The Disability Employment Charter