Building better wellbeing in licensed hospitality
This year’s event focused on what has changed since our first conference, what challenges are still affecting hospitality teams, and how employers can use insight, data and practical support to strengthen wellbeing in the workplace.
From research led by KAM Insight to conversations around sleep, Employee Assistance Programmes and the real cost of poor wellbeing, the afternoon gave attendees clear, useful ideas to take back into their teams and businesses.
We were joined by a fantastic line-up of speakers and panellists, each bringing valuable experience from across licensed hospitality, wellbeing, research and business leadership.
A huge thank you to:
- Andy Carlill, Punch Pubs & Co
- Charlotte Whindle, Barons Pubs
- Emma McClarkin OBE, BBPA
- Harry Saville, CiC Wellbeing
- Jon Dale, Punch Pubs & Co
- Katy Moses, KAM Insights
- Mark Stretton, Fleet Street
- Mick Steward, Fleet Street
- Sam Hagger, The Beautiful Pubs Collective
- Steve Alton, BII
In case you missed it
The 2026 LTC Wellbeing at Work Research, delivered by KAM Insight, gave a clear picture of how people across pubs, bars and breweries are doing one year on.
The findings showed that wellbeing challenges are still affecting a significant part of the workforce. 2 in 3 pub and bar industry employees said they had experienced challenges in the last 12 months, with sleep now standing out as one of the biggest barriers to people feeling and working well.
29% of employees reported sleep challenges, while one in four said sleep disruption had affected their ability to function effectively at work.
The impact on businesses is clear too. The research estimates that poor employee wellbeing is linked to the equivalent of 46 days lost per employee, per year through absenteeism and presenteeism.
The research also highlighted a wider issue for employers: many businesses are still making wellbeing decisions without the full picture. Gaps around sick days, mental health-related absence, EAP usage, employee feedback and presenteeism make it harder to understand the true impact of poor wellbeing on people and performance.
In 2025, we launched the LTC Wellbeing Calculator to help employers explore how poor wellbeing could be affecting their business, and where better support could make a real difference. We’ve now updated the figures to reflect our 2026 research, giving businesses a fresh view of the potential impact of absenteeism and presenteeism. Revisit the calculator to see how much poor wellbeing could be costing your business, and where taking action could help your teams and your organisation thrive.
In partnership with BII
We also proudly announced a new partnership with the British Institute of Innkeeping. Together, we’re making sure more pub teams have access to expert support, from business advice to mental health help before challenges become crises.
Try the LTC Wellbeing Calculator
Download your copy of the latest LTC Wellbeing at Work Research
New resources for hospitality teams
At the conference, attendees received early access to LTC’s new Supporting Better Sleep for Hospitality Teams guide. Created with insight from LTC, KAM and CiC, the guide looks at why sleep matters in hospitality and shares practical ways managers can support better recovery, wellbeing and performance across their teams.
The guide will be shared more widely soon, giving more businesses access to simple, useful steps they can use in their workplaces.
Why it matters
A key theme from the day was that wellbeing is not separate from business performance. It is closely linked to retention, service, productivity and the ability of teams to do their best work.
The conversations also showed that support needs to be easy to understand, easy to access and communicated clearly. Whether through an Employee Assistance Programme, wellbeing resources, manager conversations or better use of data, the aim is the same: helping people get the right support before challenges become harder to manage.
Let’s keep the conversation going, our conference may be over, but the work continues.
Explore the latest research, use the tools shared through LTC, and keep talking about what better workplace wellbeing can look like across licensed hospitality.
Register your interest for future LTC Events
Details for the 2027 LTC Wellbeing Conference will be shared soon.
