Owners of village pub near Horsham voted among UK’s best employers

Pub comany Peach, which runs The Richard Onslow in Cranleigh, has officially been named one of the best companies to work for in the country.

It has been named as a UK top employer in this year’s Best Companies to Work for awards, announced on Friday, and received a Three Star Accreditation - highlighting it as world-class.

The accolade recognises the company’s commitment to its employees and shows that it sees workplace engagement as a vital part of its success.

Peach scored at the top of its class by proving its commitment to its people and how it supported its teams particularly during the pandemic and focused on the mental wellbeing of its chefs, front of house and support teams who were furloughed.

Peach launched Yourhub.pub1, a social enterprise that enabled its furloughed teams to keep busy cooking and delivering food to the NHS and a total of 50 charities and keep connected to their pubs’ communities.

At the same time, it looked after the team, creating new personal development plans for individual and personal development for every team member. It also launched a Peach Hardship Support Fund for those facing financial difficulty and worked with industry charity Hospitality Action to ensure no-one in the team was left behind.

It’s the fifth year running that Peach has won a Best Company to Work For award, and a record year for the company, whose aim, it says, is to be the best gastropub company on the planet.

Peach managing director Hamish Stoddart said: “Ever since we started Peach 20 years ago, we’ve genuinely put our people first. We’ve always believed they are the heart of a pub and utterly central to our success.”

The Richard Onslow’s general manager Tom Tolhurst took the opportunity to toast this year’s Best Companies success with his team and guests in the pub, which is now open for eating and drinking again inside.