Women’s prison hospitality academy marks first graduates

Six trainees have completed the UK’s first commercially led hospitality academy within a women’s prison. The programme, created by Marston’s with education and justice partners, aims to guide prison leavers into sustained employment in the pub sector.

The pub company Marston’s has marked the first graduations from the Hope & Anchor hospitality academy at HMP Styal. According to Marston’s, the site is the UK’s first commercially led hospitality academy operating inside a women’s prison.

Six trainees completed the programme’s inaugural intake on 5 March after undertaking a 12-week course designed to prepare them for line chef roles across the company’s pub estate once they are released.

Marston’s reported that the graduates will now enter the programme’s next phase, during which company teams will support them in securing employment opportunities within its nationwide network of pubs. The intention is to help participants move into work while continuing their professional development within both the company and the wider hospitality sector.

One of the newly qualified participants has already secured a placement at a Marston’s pub.

Partnership behind the academy

The Hope & Anchor academy was created in collaboration with Novus Education and the New Futures Network. The facility includes a purpose-built training kitchen and restaurant that functions as a fully operational learning environment.

Women at HMP Styal receive practical instruction in culinary work as well as front-of-house service, allowing them to gain hands-on experience in a setting designed to mirror the pace and standards of commercial hospitality.

The academy forms part of Marston’s Excel programme, which aims to support prison leavers into long-term employment.

Part of a wider employment scheme

Marston’s launched the Excel initiative in 2022. More than 90 prison leavers have already secured roles across its pubs through the scheme and retention rates are said to sit well above the hospitality sector average.

Todd Lockley, senior inclusion and communities manager at Marston’s, said the first graduating class marked a meaningful moment for the project.

“Seeing the first graduates complete their training at the Hope & Anchor is incredibly special. This academy was created to give women at HMP Styal genuine opportunities to build confidence, learn new skills and take meaningful steps toward a fresh start.

“To have been able to offer a placement within one of our pubs already for one of our graduates is a testament to the project’s values and we can’t wait to see how they progress at Marston’s.”

Employment and reoffending

Providing work opportunities after release can have a substantial effect on reoffending rates. Data cited by Marston’s states that employment for a prison leaver can reduce the likelihood of reoffending by as much as 87%.

Marston’s plans to increase the number of academy graduates employed across its pub estate by 25% this year as the initiative develops.

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