Chairman Ralph Findlay awarded OBE

Ralph Findlay, Chairman of C&C Group, has been recognised in the 2023 New Year Honours list. Findlay, who served as Chief Executive Officer of UK pub group Marston’s for 20 years, before joining C&C group in 2022, was awarded an OBE for services to the hospitality sector.

“I was honoured and fortunate to have been awarded an OBE for services to hospitality in the New Year Honours list. Part of the responsibility for me of receiving this honour is using it to continue to make the case for the huge contribution the hospitality sector makes to the UK – not just to people’s lives and livelihoods, but by contributing hundreds of millions to government in tax receipts, providing millions of jobs, and helping to sustain communities. These points bear repeating, often and loudly. It is obvious that parts of the UK’s valuable and essential public services are stressed, and that government funding is stretched thin.
In these circumstances, it will be tempting for the government to try to raise more money from the sector, but that would be a mistake. Hospitality is still scarred by covid and is now trying to navigate a landscape of higher costs and weak consumer confidence. Hospitality needs a supportive government. If it gets it, the sector will grow; if it doesn’t, it will shrink – and so will the number of jobs and the amount of tax contributed to our public services. The number of empty pubs, bars and restaurants will increase. The sector is making real progress to support the government’s health agenda, to respond to the environmental challenges we face, and to increase pay and make the Living Wage a reality. It’s a sector employing a high proportion of women, and we know that women were disproportionately affected economically by covid through job losses and employment insecurity.Government has said that it wants women’s economic empowerment to be a focus in the post pandemic economic recovery: well, hospitality provides an opportunity to do just that. For hospitality, when it comes to taxes and avoidable costs, less will be more for everybody.”

David Forde, CEO added: “On behalf of all our colleagues at C&C, I congratulate Ralph on this award. This is no less than Ralph deserves, having served the hospitality industry for over 30 years. Everyone at C&C Group is proud to see Ralph recognised for his service to our industry.”