Turtle Bay Leeds: Caribbean chain boss says 4-day working week for salaried team members has been 'phenomenal’
A Caribbean chain and bar with a site in Leeds has been trialling a new four-day working week - and its boss has said the response has been “phenomenal”.
Turtle Bay launched the initiative allowing its entire salaried team members to reduce their number of working days from five to four - with no loss of pay - in January.
In the company’s latest accounts, chief executive of Turtle Bay Nick Crossley said the decision to launch “4 days at the Bay” came after he noted that no multi-site hospitality companies were included in the UK’s pilot trial held in June 2022.
Considering themselves “long-term advocates for changing the work-life balance”, Crossley writes that the new initiative has had a positive impact on its workers, and therefore, the business.
Survey findings detailed in the accounts say that more than 90 per cent of restaurant managers reported their wellbeing had improved or stayed the same during this period.
Meanwhile, 83 per cent of the managers would recommend the scheme and 77 per cent said they had felt more refreshed.
Crossley said: “The take-up has been phenomenal and the feedback has been overwhelming.
“It's widely known that Hospitality is one of the hardest working sectors and it's down to us as owners and leaders to challenge this.”
The chief executive also contributes this new initiative, alongside others, to a reduced team turnover, which has fallen nearly 50 per cent over the last two years from 131.5 per cent to 84.1 per cent.
Crossley added: “We are incredibly grateful to our team at Turtle Bay.
“4 days at the Bay is just one of the many ways we recognise the hard work of our teams. Each year, we whisk our top performing General Managers, Head Chefs, Operations Managers and Support Centre heroes away to the Caribbean.
“This year we ran two trips, one to Grenada and a second to Trinidad & Tobago for Carnival, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those deserving winners.
“My favourite part of our Reggae, Rum, Perks recognition scheme is "Bay Rocks”.
“It's a great opportunity to celebrate with our teams, thank them for their hard work and see everyone enjoying the fairground rides, street performers, and our live music acts.”