National Waiters' Day returns to celebrate front-of-house staff

Now in its fifth year, the event promotes the skills of waiters, baristas, bartenders and other customer-facing roles, and aims to raise the profile of hospitality careers.

This year will see the return of the Waiters’ Race, where staff will balance their trays for a 150m dash in London’s Hyde Park and in races across the country.

Hospitality businesses will also throw open their doors with career talks and taster days, and share pictures of their teams and events on social media using #NWD2017.

National Waiters’ Day was launched in 2012 by Fred Sirieix,​​ general manager at Galvin at Windows, in a bid to encourage staff to take pride in front-of-house careers. It is now run in partnership with The Springboard Charity.

“To be celebrating our fifth year of National Waiters’ Day is a wonderful milestone!” says Sirieix.

“It’s essential that we promote the ocean of career opportunities hospitality has to offer, celebrate the hard work of front of house professionals, and encourage more people to begin great careers in hospitality. With all the opportunities available, you can work hard and be rewarded with success – there has never been a more exciting time to join this special industry.”

For more information, to register a National Waiters’ Day event, or to sign up for the Waiters' Race visit https://nationalwaitersday.com/​​