Inclusive Hospitality:
The Key to Accessible and Welcoming Spaces
My belief is that the hospitality industry is the perfect place for every guest and team member to feel valued, respected, and included. This creates positive benefits both inside and outside the business. That’s why I offer Inclusion Audits tailored specifically for the hospitality industry to ensure your business is accessible, welcoming, and empowering for all.
What is an Inclusion Audit?
An Inclusion Audit is a comprehensive evaluation of your business from the perspective of accessibility and inclusion for disabled customers and staff. I assess your physical space, services, policies, and employee training to help you create a more inclusive environment for everyone.
An Inclusion Audit helps identify barriers—whether physical, environmental, or cultural—that might stop disabled people from enjoying the same experiences as everyone else. Together we will develop a highly detailed plan using practical recommendations to improve inclusion and accessibility across your business.
Why an Inclusion Audit Matters
- Enhance Customer Experience: Guests expect businesses to be accessible and inclusive. By ensuring that your venue meets the needs of disabled customers, you can boost customer satisfaction, loyalty, and word-of-mouth recommendations.
- Attract a Wider Audience: Disability inclusion opens up new markets. There are more than 14 million disabled people in the UK, and many are loyal to businesses that treat their needs with the same importance as everyone else’s. An inclusion audit helps you tap into the £274 billion spending power of this key demographic.
- Boost Staff Morale: Employees thrive in environments where everyone feels safe, valued, and supported. An inclusion audit ensures that your workplace empowers your staff, fostering a culture of respect and inclusivity for everyone.
Shine a spotlight on inclusion
Let’s work together to provide an inclusive experience for all your customers and keep them coming back for more.
Who Could Benefit
Inclusion audits are for your business, your staff and your customers. I work with:
- Hotels and B&Bs
- Restaurants, cafés and bars
- Museums and galleries
- Theatres
- Conference and events venues
What I Evaluate
Inclusion Audits provide a holistic review of your business in the following areas:
- Physical Accessibility: I evaluate the accessibility of your venue’s entrances, facilities, seating areas, and more to identify barriers to inclusion. My focus is on considering a wide range of disabilities and how physical environments and spaces can impact individual experience.
- Customer Service: I assess the inclusivity of your customer service training, including how well your team understands and accommodates the needs of disabled guests.
- Employment Practices: I review your hiring processes, workplace accommodations, and policies to ensure that disabled employees have equal opportunities for growth and success.
- Culture and Communication: I explore the overall culture of your business to identify any hidden biases and ensure that communication is inclusive, both internally and externally.
My Process
- Initial Consultation: I start by understanding your specific needs and goals, as well as any areas of concern you may have.
- Comprehensive Audit: In consultation with other experts I conduct a thorough, on-site evaluation of your physical space and internal practices.
- Detailed Report & Action Plan: You’ll receive a highly detailed audit report, complete with actionable recommendations to improve accessibility and inclusivity in your business. I use a clear traffic light system, breaking things down into quick and low cost wins as well as medium-term and long-term goals. Audit reports also include cost estimates to help you budget.
- Ongoing Support: I don’t just tell you what needs to be done—I provide guidance on how to implement the changes and support your team in creating a more inclusive environment. Each inclusion audit package includes three one-to-one online support sessions.
Working with me
Rachel Barber
I bring my expertise from working with disabled people in a variety of sectors into every part of my work. I also share my personal experiences as a deaf person and perspective on being a customer.
Training Packages
Specialised training packages can play a keen part in your journey towards inclusion, helping improve customer satisfaction, access to work and overall company performance.
View an inclusion webinar that I’ve delivered to hospitality and retail businesses in York for an example of the kinds of topics covered in my training packages.
Book now
Get in touch to talk about how we can work together. Or message me now via WhatsApp on 07379 433 707.
Constructive Change Together
Sometimes it can be difficult to navigate the field of disability inclusion alone. When you work with me I bring together voices from a wide variety of perspectives.
I work with disabled people as partners to collaborate on identifying areas of positive change. We have a keen focus on using an open, positive and respectful approach when working with clients.
