Tag: Surgeon's Quarter

Surgeons Quarter full of beans with new coffee partnerships

Hospitality venues adopt new partners to drive sustainability efforts

A POPULAR venue which helps to support the advancement of surgery around the world has adopted a range of impressive new sustainability measures.

The moves see Surgeons Quarter serving up a new coffee bean supplier while also delivering a partnership to recycle coffee grinds, as part of a sustainability review across its portfolio.

The organisation, which operates a range of venues to support the work of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), has named workers’ cooperative Equal Exchange as its preferred coffee supplier across all its venues, including luxury hotel Ten Hill Place.

Now the ‘Grown by Women’ coffee range will be used in all espresso and bean-to-cup machines throughout its venues. Grown by Women’s coffee is directly sourced from Equal Exchange’s female cooperative members, and helps support women, their families, and wider communities.

Meanwhile, Surgeons Quarter has also partnered with a farm operated by homelessness charity, Cyrenians, to recycle coffee grinds from its Café 1505 venue on Nicolson Street. The charity’s working farm uses organic waste, including coffee grounds, in its compost.

Stewart Munro, Operations Manager at Surgeons Quarter, said: “We are renowned for our sustainable practices especially in Ten Hill Place Hotel, but we continually seek new partnerships to help us build these practices across the campus.

“We’re delighted to be supporting Equal Exchange by taking them on as our coffee supplier and partnering with Cyrenians to upcycle our coffee grinds in a sustainable way.

“Cyrenians Farm is a fantastic enterprise, we’re already looking at ways to expand the partnership to support the work they do to produce sustainable, organic produce.

“We were also particularly drawn to Equal Exchange’s ethos to invest in crucial initiatives such as mobile health clinics. Given our affiliation to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, we were especially keen to support these enterprises.”

Surgeons Quarter promotes, sells, and manages all commercial activities held within the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh campus.

It includes facilities for conferences, meetings, private events, parties, weddings and its own four-star hotel Ten Hill Place as well as Café 1505 and SQ Travel. 

The new partnerships have been implemented following a review of sustainability practices across its venues, in a bid to meet ambitious sustainability goals.

Sophie Bell, Fundraising Manager at Cyrenians said: “Working with Surgeons Quarter is an exciting opportunity for us, we’re impressed by their commitment to work with likeminded enterprises.

“Our farm aims to foster a sense of community and supports our work to tackle the causes of homelessness. We’re excited to be partnering with Surgeons Quarter’’.

Cyrenians Farm in Kirknewton, West Lothian, is home to a community for young-people aged 16-25 years, and the surrounding working farm is a social enterprise providing opportunities for residents, volunteers, and visitors to grow vegetables, and develop life skills, while being in a trusting and nurturing community

Stewart added: “We have several initiatives in place to offset CO2 and drive sustainable practices in all our venues. Which is why it’s important that the products enjoyed by our customers, guests, and employees are ethically sourced and sustainable, as we want to make a positive difference.

“Undertaking the sustainability review allowed us to make an informed decision about how we could provide the best combination of quality and sustainability in our choice of suppliers.”

Additionally, Surgeons Quarter plans to expand its ethical retail range of products in Café 1505 through Equal Exchange to offer organic fairtrade chocolate, raw honey, and Palestinian extra virgin olive oil.

The review also appointed Scotland based Caffia, a third-generation family-run business, as the new preferred supplier of filter coffee and tea across the Surgeons Quarter venues. Caffia will supply a range of organic, Fairtrade, and Rainforest Alliance coffees and teas.

Profits from the Surgeons Quarter portfolio go towards the advancement of surgery and the improvement of patient outcomes worldwide.

More information about Surgeons Quarter can be found at: 

https://www.surgeonsquarter.com/

Edinburgh venue becomes UK’s first Living Pension employer in the hospitality sector

People-focused organisation sets example with new accreditation

A FLAGBEARER for the hospitality industry has become the UK’s first business in hospitality to be recognised as a Living Pension employer.

Surgeons Quarter, owned by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), is leading the way with its implementation of numerous workplace benefits as the country faces a worsening staff mental health crisis.

The venue has been recognised by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF) for ensuring that all 159 members of staff are contributing at least 12% of their salary towards their pension. 7.5% of that comes from the employer – 4.5% more than the required minimum.

As a heavily people-focused organisation, Surgeons Quarter offers industry-leading pay comfortably above the £10.90 per hour LWF Living Wage, as well as a 50% staff discount at all Best Western Hotels, access to an employee assistance programme, Bike2Work scheme, complimentary gym membership and discount cards.

Scott Mitchell, Managing Director of Surgeons Quarter, said: “Hospitality is not a sector that is renowned for its pay and conditions and we want to be at the forefront of changing that.

“Vital hardworking staff are rewarded appropriately – but not factoring in a pension is only stacking up problems for the future.

“We are incredibly proud to be the first business in the industry to be accredited as a Living Pension employer, but it’s important we don’t stop here and strive to keep improving our offering to our talented teams.

“This is why we offer numerous opportunities and reward schemes to all of our staff members to not only benefit them at work, but also outside of the office.”

The organisation operates Edinburgh’s largest independent hotel and offers cutting-edge hospitality, operating multiple RCSEd venues in the city’s old town.

After starting at the LWF accredited firm, employees are treated to a familiarisation overnight stay where they can enjoy the venue’s Ten Hill Place luxury hotel facilities with a guest of their choice. 

Living Pension accreditation launched in March 2023 and builds on the work of the real Living Wage by providing stability and security for workers now and in the future.

Director of the Living Wage Foundation, Katherine Chapman said: “We are delighted that Surgeons Quarter are the first hospitality business to sign up to be a Living Pension Employer, providing stability and security for their workers now and in the future.

“Over the last ten years the Living Wage campaign has grown in strength and numbers. Now paid by over 12,500 employers, it delivers essential pay rises to 430,000 workers every year.

“The Living Pension builds on this by encouraging employers to do more to help their workers build a pension pot that meets basic everyday needs in retirement.”  

Surgeons Quarter promotes, sells and manages all commercial activities held within the RCSEd campus. It includes facilities for conferences, meetings, private events, parties, weddings and its own four-star hotel Ten Hill Place as well as Café 1505 and SQ Travel.

All profits support the charitable aims of the College which are education, assessment and advancement in surgical standards worldwide.

Employment surge at Surgeons Quarter as it focuses on recovery

A MAJOR conference and events business is reporting that 2022 is projected to exceed pre-pandemic levels – and looks to expand its headcount by 70%.

In a positive sign for Edinburgh’s crucial hospitality and business tourism sectors, Surgeons Quarter – the commercial arm of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) – has experienced demand for in-person meetings and events well ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

The Living Wage-accredited organisation which manages a vast mix of historic and purpose-built RCSEd venues, as well as Ten Hill Place Hotel, Café 1505 and Surgeons Quarter Travel – has seen events and conferences that postponed due to the pandemic rebook their events for 2022 as well as a high level of new enquiries.

This trend which has included new bookings for major conferences such as the Functional Regulatory Genomic Disease Meeting, a conference which will bring together international leaders in the study of genetics of disease in April 2022, has led to Surgeons Quarter returning to operate at close to maximum levels.

As a result, Surgeons Quarter is set to recruit for 60-70 positions during April, May and June.

Scott Mitchell, Managing Director of Surgeons Quarter, said: “It’s a pleasure to be in a position to expand our hospitality teams again and add vital jobs to help us service the increasing levels of business we’re bringing in.

“It’s important that we get the recovery right – hospitality and the business tourism economy are integral to the city’s overall prosperity. We can see first-hand the direct effect it has on employment.

“In addition to our busy events calendar, Ten Hill Place Hotel is seeing encouraging occupancy levels predicted to exceed the pre pandemic levels.

“To further boost our activities in 2022, we are actively planning for the full return of the Festival Fringe for which we are one of the largest operators – and at the end of the year, we are looking forward to a busy festive period of celebration, which we have all missed in the past 18 months”.

The organisation also launched its first TV advertising campaign on 25th February with the theme highlighting guests will be ‘In Good Hands’ as a reference to its surgical connections and charitable aims which should help further raise its profile.

During the first lockdown Ten Hill Place provided free rooms and meals to key workers tackling the pandemic. Over 2,100 rooms were supplied free of charge at a cost to the company of over £100,000.

Surgeons Quarter promotes, sells and manages all commercial activities held within the RCSEd campus. All profits support the charitable aims of the College which are education, assessment and advancement in surgical standards worldwide.

For anyone interested in joining the dynamic and award-winning Surgeons Quarter team, please email recruiment@surgeonsquarter.com

For more information on events, conferences and meeting space at Surgeons Quarter visit: https://www.surgeonsquarter.com/conferences-meetings/

International guests can book directly by visiting Surgeons Quarter’s own travel agency at: https://www.sqtravel.co.uk/