International Womens Day: Liz McGivern

We’ve long championed women at Red Carnation Hotels. We were, after all, founded by a true female trailblazer: Beatrice Tollman, who built Red Carnation from the ground up at a time when there were very few women taking a leading role in the hotel industry. Beatrice continues to guide her passionate and pioneering family of hotels, inspiring her staff and celebrating and promoting women’s rights at every turn.

For starters, our hotels provide a brilliant workplace for women. Offering truly flexible hours, positions at Red Carnation can be built around family commitments, where jobs go well beyond being full or part-time. Shift work, morning-only jobs, evening shifts – our teams can pick and choose what works for them.

Women are encouraged to grow within our company, too, inspired by the leadership team that also includes Vicki and Toni Tollman. In fact, our workforce is made up of 51% women, with nearly 40% in top managerial roles, including three at General Manager level, a true accolade in the male-dominated hotel industry.

We also work with the Women Returners programme run by Women in Travel, a fantastic social enterprise that assists those who have had career breaks to return to work in hospitality. The programme also helps women from a range of backgrounds, including refugees, the homeless and those that have been affected by human trafficking or modern slavery, providing training and counselling to help them join the work force. 

What’s more, we offer £800 (and a very cute Red Carnation baby grow) for every baby that is born to a mother or father in the company. Parents also enjoy a number of wonderful highlights, including an annual children’s party in every hotel for every employee’s child, where Mother (and Father!) Christmas arrive to hand out gifts.

Our international support network for women goes above and beyond. At Bushmans Kloof in South Africa, for example, there is a crèche on site and we pay for the school transport and education of all our employees’ children. In London, our employee assistance helpline offers emotional and practical support and advice to all new joiners from day one, as well as parental guidance. 

Our female guests are, of course, also of huge importance to us. We work with Maiden Voyage to make women travellers safe and secure. 

Finally, next time you’re in one of our beautiful hotel receptions, look out for the fairtrade ME to WE chocolates, which empower female cacao producers in Ecuador and grants children better access to education. What a delicious way to celebrate this year’s International Women's Day.