Listen: Tour operator group Hotelplan places sustainability at the heart of its business strategy. In this episode of the Employee Benefits podcast, Nicky Lyle, group HR director, talks about how the organisation encourages sustainable lifestyles through its benefits strategy and corporate culture.
The focus on sustainability is evident in some of the benefits available to staff that can make a big impact. Lyle explains how one of the most popular schemes that feed into this is the low-carbon travel policy, whereby employees can earn paid time off if they choose to use a more sustainable travel option for business or leisure.
At a glance
Hotelplan is a group of specialist tour operators which sell ski, walking and group adventure holidays. The brands include Inghams, Santa’s Lapland, Explore and Inntravel.
The individual brands have a managing director (MD) and business unit, which includes product, marketing, sales, commercial, finance, customer services roles and a sustainability lead, among others.
The group operates a shared service team which includes finance, technology, sustainability and HR.
It also has a few more unusual roles, such as a number of Santa’s elves that go onto payroll each winter.
Hotelplan has around 436 permanent employees and 300 on a seasonal basis, particularly over the winter in Lapland and ski resorts. It has offices in the UK, Canada, Australia, Austria and Italy.
All roles are offered the ability to work flexibly and around one in seven permanent employees work part-time (up to 80%) to give access to a wider demographic of talent.
The average age of staff is 40, and the average length of service is eight years, although some employees have been with the business for more than 30 years.
Primary business objectives that impact on benefits for the coming year
- Hotelplan’s core strategy is B Corp accreditation across all brands so it is focused on aligning people and planet objectives, and to be the most responsible employer it can.
Career history
Nicky Lyle joined Hotelplan as head of HR for three of the brands. Previously she held mainly HR roles in retail, including in regional and head offices, overseas supporting mergers and acquisitions, and a secondment as a customer service project manager to design and deliver strategic initiatives.
Lyle was the first woman and gay woman promoted onto the Hotelplan UK board. Citing her achievements throughout her career, Lyle is proud of acheiving B Corp accreditation, as well as surviving a major cyber incident and taking those learnings back into HR. She also launched a concierge service across World Duty Free’s stores. She loves the variety of working internationally on HR projects.
