AN AWARD-winning pub near the Shropshire border has made a host of new appointments, including three Ukrainian refugees, to meet the demands of its burgeoning business.

The Riverside Inn in Aymestrey, Herefordshire, has taken on eight new employees including front-of-house staff, a full-time pastry chef, housekeepers and kitchen porters.

Andy Link, chef-patron at The Riverside said: “Following our latest awards, including the AA four-star rating and the National Pub and Bar Awards, Best Pub in Herefordshire accolade, we have been busier than ever. We are delighted to have been able to give these roles to local people and to also employ three Ukrainian refugees, one of whom will be our new pastry chef.”

“We are very happy to welcome these new team members to the pub, and hope they will enjoy working here. We are committed to making the Riverside a great place to work by encouraging team members, listening to new ideas people put forward, and making our work/life balance and pay/benefits packages attractive and rewarding.

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"The hospitality industry has had a bad reputation for the way staff are treated, but it doesn’t have to be that way, and things are changing. We have partnered with Hospitality Action to provide our entire team with wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme. This provides people with free counselling, advice, and training. Our aim is to become a leading employer in the hospitality industry.”

Andy Link is the Slow Food Movement’s Marches Chef Alliance member and is responsible for bringing so-called ‘forgotten foods’, such as the Shropshire Prune damson and the unique Mortimer Forest venison, back onto the menu and also into Slow Food’s international ‘Ark of Taste’.

Andy is also keen to help the natural world recover and to that end has planted 200 native species such as crab apple, hawthorn and blackthorn within the Riverside’s grounds (with thanks to the Woodland Trust) and has launched a Community Fund, with generous support from the Riverside’s guests, to support local initiatives such as pond creation, meadow restoration, and bird and bat box building and installation.