Putting purpose into practice: Driving our ‘Giving Something Back’ strategy through sustainable coffee and food waste reduction

At RBH, we place huge value on our ‘Giving Something Back’ programme, which outlines our collective commitment to our people, our community and our environment. We are a values first business and people are at the core of who we are and what we do across all our hotels.

2025 was a testament to what can be achieved when people come together with purpose and compassion. Across our last financial year, our teams raised an amazing £114,555 for causes that matter as part of this programme, through a variety of charitable events, partnerships and contributions.

We are making progress as a business, but there is still a significant amount of work to do across our portfolio. That is why we teamed up with Paddy & Scott’s Coffee - the perfect example of a partnership that is driving our programme forward alongside supplying high-quality coffee for our hotels. We are committed to turning operational choices into collective impact that can make a difference in the communities in which we serve, with our hotel teams also using Too Good To Go to reduce food waste across our estate.

Paddy & Scott’s Coffee

At RBH we’re passionate about building partnerships that make a real difference, for our hotel guests and for the communities we impact across the world. In 2023, we began partnering with Paddy & Scott's to supply sustainable coffee for our hotels. We were drawn to Paddy & Scott’s for both their high-quality coffee and how embedded they are in the communities where their coffee is grown. They have a direct relationship with all their farmers ensuring traceability from bean to cup with the Muchomba Farm in Ruiga, Kenya one of the farms they work closely with.

Every bag of Paddy & Scott’s ‘Lunchbox Coffee’ used in our hotels provides a meal for school children in the communities where Paddy & Scott’s grow their coffee. Over the course of the year, RBH has funded 13,000 meals for these communities through the coffee used in our hotels, which makes a tangible difference for children in need in these areas.

Too Good To Go

Alongside our coffee partnership, RBH hotels are utilising Too Good To Go to help our hotels reduce food waste and make better use of surplus breakfast items. This innovative platform provides an effective tool to prevent leftover food from going to landfill by offering its members in the community to pick up meals at a small cost that would otherwise go to waste.

The initiative has now been rolled out to more than 30 of our hotels across the RBH portfolio. Over the course of the year, these efforts have saved approximately 10,000 meals and raised £29,000.

Furthermore, we have built on our work with Paddy & Scott’s, using the money raised from Too Good To Go across our portfolio to fund a multi-purpose hall to be built in Kenya for Ruiga school students and the community to use. A great example of how our partnerships are making a real difference in our hotels’ own communities, as well as beyond.

Where Impact Comes to Life

In recognition of their incredible efforts, representatives from RBH’s top performing hotels; Holiday Inn Express, Barrow-in-Furness & South Lakes - for selling the most Paddy & Scott’s coffee, and Ramada by Wyndham Belfast for saving the most meals through Too Good To Go, visited Ruiga in Kenya.

With Paddy & Scott's, representatives from RBH and the hotels went to visit the Muchomba family who produces the coffee for our hotels. They learnt about the production of the beans and also saw the work being done within the community and the nearby Ruiga schools. The trip was a special moment for the team to visit the schools, see the completed hall, and learn how it is benefitting the students and the community. The school hall is the first project that’s now complete, and we are working with the school on a new kitchen to improve facilities at the school further.

Will Macpherson, Group Director of Food & Beverage at RBH said:

“The trip to Ruiga will stay with me for a very long time. Meeting the Muchomba family, who produce the coffee for our hotels and visiting the schools and children supported through our initiatives brought our Giving Something Back programme to life. Seeing the new hall in use and breaking ground on the next phase for the new kitchen facilities was a humbling reminder of what can be achieved when we align our operations with purpose. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made but there is a lot more that we can achieve”.

Jessie Snelling, Head of Purpose at Paddy & Scott’s said:

“This trip was the first time we were able to take a partner with us, and it was an incredibly proud moment to be able to introduce Will, Paul and Tegan to our friends in Meru and for them to see first-hand the opportunities being provided to the Ruiga Schools. It was also wonderful to see the finished hall and take part in breaking ground for the much-needed kitchen but of course also very difficult to see the issues and challenges that still remain. This trip fuelled real, raw and inspiring conversations about what’s next and how as partners we can continue creating positive change for the children in Meru”.

Since the trip to Ruiga in September 2025, RBH is committed to continue supporting the project, including the plans to improve the sanitation for the girl’s boarding school. In order to raise valuable funds, Will Macpherson is now due to take on a 350km cycle from Glasgow to Blackpool, where RBH is due to host their annual conference and awards.

We are proud of the work our teams have done to make this all possible, but we recognise that there is more that we can do as a business. As we look ahead, we are working hard with our teams to increase the number of hotels using Paddy & Scott’s coffee as well as raising further funds through Too Good To Go so that we can continue to make an impact as part of our ‘Giving Something Back’ programme.