Pub owner and operator JD Wetherspoon has won the Employers Forum on Age Recognition award from the Department of Work and Pensions.

The award recognises companies which have successfully attracted and recruited an age diverse workforce and eradicated age discrimination through good practice.

The company was one of the first in the hospitality industry to scrap an enforced retirement age.

Wetherspoon’s senior personnel manager Mandy Ferries said: “The award highlights our commitment in this particular area of employment. We have spent a lot of time ensuring that our policies and practices on age are the best in the industry.

“These include updating all our training courses with age diversity as a key component, as well as retraining every pub manager in the past six months in diversity and discrimination, focusing age and the benefits of employing an age diverse workforce.”

Wetherspoon is the first hospitality company to win an Age Positive champion award. Details: www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk