MANORVIEW LAUNCH CHARITY FOUNDATION AND NEW LOOK FOR BRAND

As part of their ambition to make life better through hospitality, Scottish hospitality group Manorview have launch a new registered charity the Manorview Foundation, while also unveiling a new bold look for the Manorview brand which they will be rolling out in the coming months.

The independently owned hospitality group was established in 2007 and now operates 11 venues throughout Scotland. But aims extend their services to those who can’t afford such experiences.

The new charity will harness the resources, skills, and connections of Manorview and their team to make life better for people who are impacted by poverty. And though it carries the Manorview name, it is a separate registered charity, which is being steered and managed by Glasgow charity director Robert McHarg.

Steve Graham, the group’s Founder and Chairman said, “About 1/5th of Scotland’s people are living in relative poverty. And 1 in 4 children are affected, meaning they have limited or no access to life’s essentials like food, warm clothes, books and more – greatly disadvantaging them as they grow up. We have the people, resources, networks, and skills to make people’s lives better, so we absolutely must act. We know how to develop properties, operate venues, cook meals, host guests, and run events. And we know we could be using these skills to make a difference.”

The business hosted their 500 strong team at an all-company event in June at Glasgow’s iconic Old Fruitmarket where it unveiled its new branding and ideas behind the Foundation which they all will support through through fundraising, donating, and volunteering.

Robert, comments, ““The charity’s mission is to use hospitality to make life better for people living in poverty. We’ll do this by providing meals, hosting events, and distributing goods and products. We’re aiming to be active in 40 of West Central Scotland’s most deprived areas by June 2026. And we’ve set an ambitious target to serve 100,000 meals to people experiencing poverty in 3 years.”

The Manorview Foundation will have the full support of Manorview Hotels – being able to utilise the team, resources, connections and of course, its portfolio of properties.

For example in October Manorview’s Coatbridge property, which is being used as a function hire space, will become a base to deliver services for people in the area who are impacted by poverty.

Robert commented “This October, we plan to open the space during the school holidays so that we can host kids and offer them meals and activities. We know school holidays can be especially tough for families in hardship, and it is difficult to afford day trips and activities to keep kids entertained too. Longer term, we plan to use the space for a community drop in, possible foodbank, and drop-off point for donations leading into winter and Christmas. The team at Manorview hotels will help deliver this activity through volunteering, and it’s amazing to have the resources and property available at Manorview to be able to do this.”

Although the charity is new, the team at Manorview have been involved in such work for a while now. The team there have cooked and served meals to homeless people in Glasgow, have gathered and donated hundreds of gifts and goods to children and families, and have hosted Christmas parties with meals for underprivileged children who’d otherwise go without.

The charity is just one aspect of Manorview’s ambitions to have a positive impact on people’s lives. In autumn 2021, Manorview became Living Wage accredited and stopped using zero hours contracts (unless requested by team). In January 2023, they shared £162,479 of profit with everyone who had been in the business for 12+ months and have committed to sharing 10% of net profits with their team every year. They are also working towards their goal of having 100 mental health first aiders in their team of 500 –having reached 60 to date.

Meanwhile Manorview’s new branding is being rolled out. SHead of Marketing Kirstin Watson said, “As an operator of boutique venues, all of which are different, it would be easy to let the Manorview brand take a back seat. However, we want people to know that we are more than the venues we have and the hospitality services we deliver. We’re a bold, optimistic, forward-thinking business and we are determined to use our opportunities and successes to make a positive impact. We stand for something much bigger than what we do, and we wanted a bold brand that would help us represent this!”