Zetter Group decides to pay employees more!

You’ll know the Zetter Group from their mega trendy hotels and restaurants. Among them is the Zetter Townhouse in Clerkenwell, with a bar run by cocktail maker supreme Tony Conigliaro and the famous Bistrot Bruno Loubet, as well as Loubet’s groundbreaking veg-centric Grain Store in the revamped King’s Cross area. This year, marking a first for the world of hospitality, the group shared a percentage of their profits with staff, paying out an extra 1.9 weeks salary per employee. It’s a breath of fresh air in an industry that’s recently faced controversy over certain big chains pocketing staff tips.

We caught up with Zetter Group partner Jason Catifeoglou, who deals with all the tricky finance and marketing business.

Aside from sharing company profits with employees, you also offer massages, eye tests, meals, travelcard loans and discounts at other venues. Why did you decide to put this package together?
One of our key roles is making sure our people are happy and helping them maintain a great state of mind. If we create an environment in which our team feel content and free of stress, everything else slots into place. We love to reward our staff for their hard work, and we also want to make their lives a little easier and more fun.

How do these incentives benefit the business?
They allow our staff to engage with the company on a more meaningful level and enjoy a sense of ownership. We also believe they increase productivity, staff retention and wellbeing, as an employer, what more could you ask for?

Why has no one else in the hospitality industry taken up a scheme like this before?
John Lewis pioneered the scheme in the retail environment, and we’re pleased to be the first in the hospitality industry. It’s not a small or obvious decision for a company to share its profits so perhaps it’s not that surprising, but we think it’s the right thing to do and will make good business sense in the long run too. We’re hoping many other businesses in the industry will follow suit.

What do Zetter hotels do that other boutique hotels don't?
We are extremely environmentally conscious. Our hotels are energy efficient and built using sustainably sourced materials. We use eco-friendly products throughout all of our sites. It’s our responsibility to reduce our negative impact on the environment and raise the awareness to our staff and guests. Also our properties provide a strong sense of place, marrying the historical features of the buildings with a contemporary, yet quintessentially English use of pattern and textiles. We hope we have created a fun, certain English eccentricity that is hard for others to recreate!

Your hotels are well-known for being hip, but how do you achieve this?
Design plays a very big part and we’ve worked closely with Russell Sage to achieve our characteristic look. Location also has a role to play. Clerkenwell, King’s Cross and Marylebone are all inspiring parts of London, and it’s important for us to be involved with these exciting areas.

This autumn Grain Store opens a branch at Gatwick Airport, what can you tell us about the menu?
The Grain Store Cafe & Bar will have a new family-friendly menu with airport travellers in mind, and we promise to serve diners within 15 minutes. We will also have a new breakfast menu designed by Bruno Loubet.