Chat to us now
0800 093 5892
HIT Training is the market-leading specialist apprenticeship and training provider for the UK’s hospitality, catering and retail industries. Working in partnership with sector employers, we improve employees’ skills, increasing their efficiency and productivity, enabling innovation whilst boosting your bottom line.
With a proven track record, we deliver quality people-led training, enabling frontline staff, managers, leaders, and business owners to reach their full potential. Our teams offer personalised support, expert advice, creativity, and passion throughout the learning journey.
Our mission
Transforming lives, shaping futures and boosting income opportunities
Our mission is all about transforming lives, shaping futures and boosting income opportunities. We are driven by unique philosophies that lead us to develop high-quality training programmes with outstanding results for our employer partners and our learners.
People
Our business ethos revolves around people and their growth.
We are dedicated to transforming lives, shaping futures, and creating better income opportunities for our employees, employer partners and learners alike. Our moral purpose lies in helping everyone we work with to grow and develop, empowering them to reach their full potential in their careers and lives.
Planet
At HIT, we prioritise environmental sustainability to preserve the planet’s future.
We embed these principles in our curriculum and business operations, instilling learners with responsible practices and fostering a culture of environmental stewardship among our staff. This approach ensures that we play an active role in safeguarding the well-being and opportunities for the next generation.
Profit
As a business, we understand the significance of making a profit, but it’s not just about financial gains.
We have an economic responsibility to make a difference in the industries we operate in. One-third of our profits go to shareholders, another third to our employees who are co-owners of HIT, and the remaining third is reinvested back into our business.
In 1998, John Hyde started apprenticeship training company Hospitality Plus with an initial team of 18 staff. It went on to become the 4th largest apprenticeship training company in the country, operating from 40 sites and employing around 500 staff.
Prior to Hospitality Plus, John sold his small restaurant chain in Brighton and worked for the Hotel and Catering Industry Training Board, delivering Youth Training Scheme (YTS) programmes and subsequently Modern Apprenticeship programmes in the hospitality industry.
John also founded a trade association for the 10 largest independent training providers in the UK, which is now the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP).
2006
HIT Training is launched. In response to the Government’s new Train to Gain initiative, John Hyde and Jill Whittaker found HIT Training Ltd with 32 former colleagues from Hospitality Plus. The company specialises in vocational programmes in the hospitality sector. Within the year, HIT wins its first half-a-million-pound contract, plus smaller sub-contracts with 32 Further Education colleges across the country.
2007
HIT celebrates its first year and reaches 1,000 learners on programme.
2008
HIT launches Connect2Care, a division specialising in adult care. The company also has its first Ofsted inspection, achieving a rating of ‘Good’.
2009
The National Apprenticeship Service is founded to coordinate apprenticeships in England. HIT and Connect2Care Apprenticeship frameworks are launched.
2012
HIT and Connect2Care maintain their ‘Good’ rating with Ofsted. HIT is recognised as a Gold Standard provider with sector skills body People 1st.
2014
Turnover ‘hits’ £25 million. HIT employs its 500th employee in April after entering, for the first time, the ‘Times Top 100 Companies to Work For’, placing 92nd.
2016
HIT celebrates its 10th year and the HIT Chef Academy launches to acclaim across the hospitality and catering industry. HIT also introduces retail apprenticeships to its offer and is one of the first companies to adopt apprenticeship standards.
2017
John Hyde is awarded a CBE for services to education and training in hospitality and care at Buckingham Palace. HIT continues to meet Ofsted ‘Good’ ratings, with the Chef Academy cited as ‘Outstanding’. A new system for funding all new apprenticeships is introduced on 6th April 2017 called the Apprenticeship Levy, with HIT becoming a lead advisor to hospitality industry employers. Connect2Care starts working with the early years sector and becomes an Adult Care endorsed provider with ‘Skills 4 Care’.
2018
HIT wins a ‘Supplier Excellence’ award at the annual Foodservice Cateys 2018, the equivalent of the Oscars of the hospitality industry. Connect2Care starts work in healthcare and HIT is awarded ‘The Times Educational Supplement Training Provider of the Year’.
2019
HIT introduces its new mission ‘People, Planet, Profit’ demonstrating the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability, as a golden thread throughout the business and supply chain. It also launches the UK's first apprenticeship for brewers, in collaboration with an industry trailblazer group.
2020
HIT is named for the fourth time in the aspirational Sunday Times ‘Top 100 Best Companies to Work For’. At number 17, the company has continued to rise through the ranks from 92nd in 2014 to 88th in 2015 to 74th in 2018.
2021
Identifying a need for management and leadership skills training, HIT launches the Executive Development Network featuring quarterly ‘3rd Horizon’ events providing cutting-edge learning from a variety of different sectors – from sport to music, manufacturing, international retail and science. Connect2Care becomes the only provider to work with funeral services. HIT celebrates its 15th birthday.
2022
Jill Whittaker is awarded an OBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours list for outstanding services to apprenticeships in hospitality, care and management.
2023
HIT Training Ltd announces the creation of an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) giving employees a majority share of the company. The move reflects the company’s commitment to creating an inclusive workplace that values the contributions of all employees. HIT also becomes one of the first independent training providers to become an employee-owned company. Jill takes up the Executive Chair position and Mike Worley becomes Managing Director.
2024
HIT Training Ltd wins ‘Best Training Provider’ at the prestigious Apprenticeship Guide Awards
Cultural Values
Our values reflect our positive vision of what apprenticeships and training can achieve. We’re committed to improving individuals’ skills, making businesses more efficient and boosting the economy. People are central to everything we do, and we take great pride in helping them become the best versions of themselves.
What we do matters
Every day, we strive to make a meaningful impact on the lives of others.
Everybody matters
Our people and our customers are at the heart of everything we do.
Our experience matters
We are passionate about using our knowledge and experience to build a better future.
Working together matters
Through teamwork and collaboration, we make outstanding happen.
Our profit matters
When we build success together everyone wins.
Put your experience working in the hospitality or retail sector to excellent use with HIT, where we work together to help our learners reach their full potential.
Learn more
Sign up to news, events and great resources
