The Hugs (Hospitality United Group Support) non-profit initiative has begun offering a range of free services to those who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic – such as guidance with CV writing, interview preparation and advice on how to transfer their skills to other industries.

Co-founder Pauline Houston, who launched Hugs earlier this month alongside John Marron and Richard Bantock, said the group’s aim was to provide “tangible help” to industry colleagues facing tough times.

Houston told TTG: “It’s become so apparent that there is a huge amount of people working in travel, tourism and hospitality that have been in their jobs for a long time and haven’t needed to search for another one and now, through no fault of their own, find themselves redundant.

“They’ve spent the last 20 years not having to worry about finding a new job and now they have to do it in a really tough market with tens of thousands of others in the same position.”

Houston said the services provided by Hugs were free with help coming from a network of industry volunteers donating their time and expertise.

“We want to equip those we’re helping to be as successful as they possibly can and already we’ve seen a number of people secure new roles and receive job offers.”

To contact Hugs, email Hugs-uk@outlook.com or visit the group’s LinkedIn page.