British restaurateur and events caterer, Searcys, is proud to announce the launch of its £175,000 Charity Pledge for 2022 as part of its 175th anniversary celebrations.

As one of the UK’s first British event caterers, 2022 sees Searcys celebrate its 175th anniversary with a full calendar of events, promotions and pop-ups. In homage to founder John Searcy, the company has launched the Searcys Charity Pledge, committing to raise a target of £175,000 in donations to nominated charities, including Hotel School and Beyond Food. This will be achieved through fundraising across its venues, alongside donating one workday for each of its team members to take part in fundraising activities for their own causes and local communities.

Searcys Charity Pledge is the first in the company’s yearlong celebrations, which will also include the refurbishment of Europe’s longest champagne bar at St Pancras International, set to reopen in Summer 2022.

Despite the most challenging of years for hospitality and events, 2021 saw Searcys expand its portfolio with four new venue partnerships at iconic sites including 116 Pall Mall, IET London: Savoy Place, and The Royal College of Surgeons, in which Searcys launched new events venue The View.

Since reopening in May last year, Searcys have hosted over 136,000 guests across its restaurants and bars, serving over 20,196 afternoon teas (including 18,444 signature Victoria sponge cakes) and pouring 30,000 bottles of champagne, including 18,000 of Searcys own cuvee. The company also saw a resurgence in private dining, with over 1,400 enquiries across St Pancras Brasserie and Searcys at the Gherkin alone, while over 2,200 events took place across its iconic venues since lifting of the restrictions in July 2021.

In turn, this has seen Searcys team grow back to over 800 employees ready for trading this year. During the year, the company hosted its annual awards – albeit virtually - to celebrate the positivity, dedication, hard work and passion of its diverse team throughout the challenges of the past 12 months and revamped its employee benefits system to offer team members up to 50% discount at its restaurants and bars. Searcys also relaunched its apprenticeship scheme, offering over 40 apprenticeship journeys, from hospitality to accounting and marketing.

Paul Jackson, Managing Director of Searcys comments: “After what has been a turbulent year, I am incredibly proud to see Searcys go from strength to strength, and would like to thank every member of the team for their hard work and loyalty throughout the year. We look forward to toasting to 175 years with some exciting plans on the horizon, while continuing to deliver expert service and outstanding experiences for our guests. "Gentle, courteous and masterful" are the words used to describe John Searcy's character and these traits are still fundamental to us today. We would like to make a difference in the communities we work and live in, so we take great pride in launching the 175k Searcys Charity Pledge.”

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