REGISTRATIONS NOW OPEN

CODE Hospitality’s Happiest Places to Work, in partnership with Planday, is back and registrations are now open. 

Last year we launched our Happiest Places to Work list, championing companies with the happiest teams in hospitality and highlighting on some of their most innovative practices.

One of our missions at CODE is to promote hospitality as a career, shining a light on best employment practices and continuing to make sure the industry evolves for the better. We hope our Happiest Places to Work can help achieve this.

How it works

April 7, Registrations open

Once registered, you’ll receive your unique survey link, to be shared with your entire team, and unique questionnaire, to be completed by you, within 15 minutes.

It’s completely free to register your company and take part

June 20, Deadline for survey responses and questionnaire

Meet the minimum survey participation* and complete the questionnaire by this date, both are mandatory.

The survey

In our survey your team will be asked just 10 questions to assess different aspects of their happiness in your workplace. Individual responses will be reviewed anonymously by our judging panel and kept in the strictest confidence, so please answer honestly.

Teams of 50 or less must achieve 50% participation in the survey. Teams of 51 or more must achieve 40% participation.

The questionnaire

In this questionnaire, you should detail the policies and initiatives you have implemented for consideration by the judging panel alongside your survey results. Demonstrate all the work your company undertakes to create a happy workplace.

July, Judging panel

Your survey scores and questionnaire responses will be assessed by our judging panel who will select the final list and an overall winner.

September, List announced

The list and overall winner will be announced at an awards ceremony.

What take part?

Get feedback

Survey results will be anonymised and provided to companies which participated.

Attract top talent

If listed as one of the happiest places to work in the industry, you will attract top industry talent.

Recognise your team

Get recognised both within and beyond the industry as an employer with good culture and sustainable practices

In partnership with

Happiness at work isn’t just a perk – it’s a powerful driver of success. That’s why we’re thrilled to be sponsoring CODE Hospitality’s Happiest Places to Work for the second year in a row.

At Planday, we know that a happy team is an engaged, productive, and loyal one. Creating a positive workplace culture doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention, great leadership, and a commitment to putting people first. The Happiest Places to Work list allows us to celebrate the businesses that are making happiness a priority, and gives us a front row seat to learn from their ways of working. 

We’re helping CODE (with support from our friends at URockd), spread good vibes to all businesses. We can’t wait to see if it’s your turn to make the list.

Supported by

URocked is a dynamic digital tipping platform revolutionising tipping in businesses across hospitality and beyond.

Our award-winning OneDevice, is a game-changing pay-at-table payment solution that integrates bill and tip payments into a single transaction. Bill amounts are credited to your business, while tips credit straight to your employees’ mobile apps – bypassing payroll complexity and at no extra cost to your business.

In today’s increasingly cashless landscape, URocked empowers diners to express their appreciation, knowing 100% of their gratuity reaches those who earned it. Businesses benefit from reduced administrative costs and payroll burdens, bulletproof compliance with tipping regulations, and a new era of transparency. Employees are energised by the assurance of fair treatment, complete control over their tip earnings, and the joy of regular, direct payouts. Prepare for a surge in morale and a tipping culture that truly rocks!

Last year’s judges

Prudence Stamp
Head of People & Culture, Urban Leisure Group

Having been with Urban Leisure Group nearly 11 years and working her way into general management, Stamp has worked in People & Culture for the past six years. She is CIPD Level 5 qualified, a Mindfulness and Resilience at Work coach, Mental Health First Aider and interested in leadership and wellbeing in hospitality.

Jun Tanaka
Chef patron, The Ninth

Tanaka has over 30 years’ experience working in London’s most iconic restaurants such as Le Gavroche, The Restaurant Marco Pierre White and The Square. He opened The Ninth in 2015 and was awarded a Michelin star in 2017. His proudest achievement to date is that The Ninth has been ranked in The Caterer’s Top 30 best places to work in hospitality for the past three years.

Thom Elliot
Co-founder, Pizza Pilgrims

Elliot is the co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims with his brother. Starting out on a market stall in 2012 – they now operate 25 pizzerias across the UK – and have put team and guest happiness at the forefront of their thoughts for 12 years and counting.

Will Beckett
Co-founder & CEO, Hawksmoor

Having set up the first Hawksmoor in 2006 with best friend Huw Gott, the pair have grown the business into one of the most admired restaurant brands in the UK. It has been ranked amongst the best companies to work for by Best Companies for 13 years in a row, and amongst the most sustainable restaurant groups by the Sustainable Restaurant Association for the same period.

Lorraine Copes
Founder & CEO, Be Inclusive Hospitality

A multi-award-winning social entrepreneur, board member, procurement consultant, food and drink writer and life coach. Having spent two decades as an executive director for brands including Gordon Ramsay Restaurants and Corbin & King, Copes founded Be Inclusive Hospitality CIC in 2020 due to the consistent lack of representation of people of colour in positions of influence and the supply chain.

Chantelle Nicholson
Chef patron, Apricity

A multi-award winning chef, restaurateur, author and advocate. Nicholson is the founder of Apricity restaurant, in London’s Mayfair, which celebrates conscious cooking and joyful dining, which gained a Michelin Green Star in 2023. Originally from New Zealand, and a trained lawyer, she is committed to creating a more sustainable and holistic future across her operations and activities.

Queena Wong
Founder, Curious Vines

A prominent UK wine collector and hospitality lover, Wong is the leader and voice for Curious Vines, a supportive community of women in the UK wine industry that cultivates connectivity. She commissioned the ground-breaking UK Women in Wine Industry Survey released October 2023 kickstarting the drinks industry Equity Diversity and Inclusion Initiative of which she is on the Advisory Council.

Dave Lee
CEO, Planday

Dave joined Planday in May 2023 as Chief Executive Officer. Dave joins the Planday team from Nordic-focused fintech platform Lunar, where he was Chief Product Officer responsible for building and leading Product and Experience Design for their 500,000+ users. His experience includes product, digital and customer experience leadership positions at IKEA, Spotify, The Guardian and BBC.

Adam Hyman
Founder, CODE Hospitality

Truly passionate about the hospitality industry, Hyman founded CODE to promote hospitality as a viable career path and work towards improving the industry as a better place to work. As well as CODE’s Happiest Places to Work, he also sits on the judging panel for both CODE’s Women of the Year and 30 under 30.

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