Hospitality Connect: The Role of Local Hospitality Businesses in Connecting Lives and Building Communities, 2022-2023

Phillips, Judith and Wang, Xuan Lorna (2025). Hospitality Connect: The Role of Local Hospitality Businesses in Connecting Lives and Building Communities, 2022-2023. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857349

The contribution of older people to the economy and society, through volunteering, caregiving activities, engagement in formal employment past retirement as well as consumers and entrepreneurs, is considerable. Yet ageing is an opportunity that business and industry have still to realise. The overall aim of the Industrial Strategy is to improve innovation and productivity. In doing so we need to consider the role of older people in making this a reality. It also seeks to improve wellbeing contributing to 5 extra years of healthy independent life by 2035 and to narrow the gap between the richest and poorest.

To achieve this, as Research Director, Professor Judith Phillips will lead and manage a Social, Behavioural and Design Research programme of interdisciplinary research which seeks to provide an evidence base and platform for innovation through a suite of research projects, knowledge exchange activity and capacity building. Older people will be at the heart of this research programme co-producing and working alongside academic, business and industry stakeholders, policy and practice communities to shape, conduct and create impact from the programme. The Research Director will create a vibrant environment for researchers and stakeholders from a wide variety of disciplines and environments where ideas, new and novel thinking and innovation can be explored around inclusive design (e.g. environments, services and product design); behavioural change; organisational change; and the life course (e.g. intergenerational and life transitions). Activities will be drawn together through shared learning across projects in the programme with regular meetings and opportunities to shape the research culture which is interdisciplinary, challenge-driven and impactful. The flagship programme of research will showcase how arts, humanities and social sciences are central contributors to the Industrial Strategy and the Healthy Ageing portfolio.

As a champion of the Healthy Ageing Challenge, Professor Phillips will ensure the project outputs from the programme reach a wide range of end users through strategies for communication, public and business engagement. These will translate the research in the programme to business, public and third sectors drawing on existing influential and new networks and a range of media to ensure impact thus realising the ambitions of the Industrial Strategy. The Research Director will be a key contact point and thought leader for the Healthy Ageing challenge, working with partners from the housing and construction sector, retail, media and third sector amongst others. Examples include Housing LIN, the Association of Convenience Stores and Age UK. Particular emphasis will be on the importance of place and the role of devolved government in realising the research programme and the Healthy Ageing Challenge. Links will be built with other Industrial Strategy challenge areas such as the future of mobility and clean growth as well as challenge fund areas such as the audience of the future and with similar initiatives both across the UK and internationally. The Research Director will also focus on the sustainability of the Healthy Ageing Challenge with an emphasis on building capacity amongst early career and new researchers to ageing, drawing researchers into the programme from underrepresented disciplines and through the development of a roadmap for future research in Healthy Ageing.

Data description (abstract)

The pandemic has had a notable impact on the physical, mental and social health of older adults (Age UK., 2021), a group who were disproportionately affected by social distancing measures (Pantaris et al., 2020). This has coincided with an unprecedented financial shock to the hospitality sector (Hutton et al., 2022), with government figures suggesting this industry shrank by more than 40% in 2020 relative to 2019. This project helps support social connections and ‘build back better’ by focusing on a group (older adults) and sector (hospitality) who were both disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

Cafes and pubs are venues for sociality and companionship, often perceived as connecting individuals and groups in beneficial ways (Rosenbaum et al., 2007; Dunbar, 2016). This research aims to develop our understanding of current and potential opportunities for the hospitality business to play an influential role in supporting social connections. This project takes a qualitative approach, conducting go-along interviews with older adults (aged 65+), hospitality businesses and policy influencers to investigate how engagement with hospitality services could help older adults from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds become more socially connected.

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