Edwardian Hotels

Edwardian Hotels London is a leading luxury hotel and hospitality brand. The business was founded in 1977 and has grown to become one of the UK’s largest and most dynamic independent companies, operating 12 luxury hotels in prestigious locations across London and Manchester.

At the core of the Edwardian Hotels London brand is an ambition to deliver an exceptional experience to their guests, with the business working hard to maintain the strong reputation that it has built over the past 40 years.

The business need

Edwardian Hotels London (EHL) employs around 2,500 staff across every area of their business, from Head Office to Front of House to kitchen porters.

Their focus on outstanding customer service means that every member of the team is put through a comprehensive induction programme and Right to Work checks are a key part of that process.

Darren Carter, Head of Group Security with EHL explains “Getting Right to Work checks right is critical for us. We need to be 100% sure that the person who we are employing is who they say they are and that they meet the requirements for UK Right to Work legislation.”

Solution

Since 2008, EHL have been using TrustID desktop scanning technology to validate employee identity documents as part of their Right to Work process, with no potential employee being accepted into the EHL team without a successful TrustID validation report. This step was introduced to avoid the risk of prosecution for employing illegal workers and the potential damage this could cause the prestigious brand as well as to protect their customers.

A watertight process

Across the 12 hotels, recruitment is still initiated at a local level with applicants being asked to produce the relevant identity documents for visual inspection at the time of interview. These are checked, copied and held locally until a successful candidate attends one of the weekly induction sessions which are run centrally at the organisation’s academy, The Edge, in London.

During the first induction day, all locally-selected employees are asked to bring their original identity documents along for visual inspection and electronic validation by the EHL security team.

“In the past, we’ve had to stop future employees on the first day of induction if they haven’t brought the right documents, ”explains Darren “It’s hard to turn people away but it’s just our rule – if we can’t validate your document, you can’t carry on through our employment process…”

If the security team spot anything suspicious, they can deal with the issue immediately, either to clarify the situation with a candidate or to notify local police of a fraudulent document.

“It’s much less disruptive and less risky to our business to be able to stop someone before we’ve invested in them and they’ve actually started work” adds Darren.

Greater protection

The reputation of the business is a key concern for EHL: “Our industry is built on reputation and brand integrity” explains Darren “If our reputation is damaged in any way, due to fraud or illegal workers or similar, who is going to come here?”

But with a watertight induction and pre-employment process, the chances of reputational damage are hugely reduced and the security team at EHL can promote their best practice approach to travel managers and booking agents across the industry.

Another key priority at EHL is to ensure guests are looked after in the best way possible and this extends to safeguarding their security.

Staff from several different teams may access a guest’s room during their stay but the TrustID checks mean that EHL are confident in the identity of those staff.

Deterrence

Throughout the recruitment process, from the initial job advert through to the final email inviting candidates to an induction day, EHL advertise their use of document scanning technology. This acts as a deterrent to any candidate that may be tempted to apply using fraudulent identity documents, further reducing the risk of illegal workers being employed.

Conclusion

TrustID validation technology helps the Edwardian Hotels London to streamline their identity checking process for all staff. The business is confident that they are only employing people after having made thorough and consistent checks and they can easily stop applicants whose documents are suspicious or who do not have the right documents to prove their right to work in the UK.

The process also means that EHL are minimising their risk of financial penalties, reputational damage and protecting the security of the guests who stay with them.