Ethical collaboration to support education and employment for people with SEN and disabilities

Ethical collaboration to support education and employment for people with SEN and disabilities

Bennett Hay, the privately-owned caterer and hospitality services company, has partnered with SEND Coffee at several of its sites. The partnership with the non-profit underlines Bennett Hay’s commitment to being a conscious business and to securing a responsible supply chain.

SEND Coffee provides barista employment opportunities for people with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities. Each person is given customised training framed on the Speciality Coffee Association’s Certification, and once people are coffee-confident they work on site with a mentor for a full year before a full-time employment opportunity is secured.

In the first instance Bennett Hay will be joining a like-minded community of cafés and workplaces who use SEND’s coffee beans as their house blend. SEND’s beans are sourced in small batches direct from farmers, and as part of a registered charity all profits made from the sales of the beans are used to train, support and mentor future barista talent. As the relationship develops, Bennett Hay is looking to create barista opportunities in its prestigious workplace sites.

‘DEVELOPING A NEW DYNAMIC’

The coffee break has a heightened significance in the workplace as teams actively make time to congregate together to interact and engage. Bennett Hay has seen an increase in demand for coffee by employees before they take to their desks at the start of the day along with a marked call for coffees and hot beverages as part of the traditional Elevenses.

Zoë Watts, MD of Bennett Hay, said: “We were blown away with SEND Coffee and everything they stand for. We are actively sourcing a responsible and ethical supply chain and coffee was a big area of focus for us due to the volumes we are serving across our sites.

‘Bennett Hay is a fantastic partner for us as they directly expose us to large corporates and businesses where they are the appointed hospitality provider’

“Not only are the beans better for business, the training and development of people is phenomenal, and we want to shine a big light on disability and neurodiversity and celebrate inclusivity in the hospitality sector.”

Jack Dobby, SEND Coffee’s Head of Sales and Partnerships, added: “Bennett Hay is a fantastic partner for us as they directly expose us to large corporates and businesses where they are the appointed hospitality provider. Their entire team has been so welcoming, and longer-term we are looking forward to helping develop a new dynamic to Bennett Hay’s coffee offering.”

Bennett Hay has challenged and led the workplace management sector since it was founded in 2010.  It was one of the first organisations to create a ‘Happiness Officer’ whose focus is to bring workplace experiences and clients’ corporate cultures to life through community engagement.

Bennett Hay works with a notable portfolio of offices and estates where the company oversees facilities and guest and is regularly noted as a Best Places to Work in Hospitality.