our people and communities

inclusive by design

it’s all about the feeling you get when you walk through our doors. welcomed, connected, comforted. a feeling of true inclusion 

if you’re a guest, you know straight away that you’ve found a place where everyone can belong. where people are encouraged to come as they are, and empowered to grow as they want 

this sense of belonging is the foundation for so many things that help us to make a positive impact in people’s lives  

training and development, supporting the wellbeing of our teams, and contributing to our wider communities through charities and partnerships. everything grows from that sense of togetherness. of warmth, trust and shared humanity that shine through in all we do

keeping it real

true inclusion means that we build teams filled with authenticity and confidence. where people know they can be completely comfortable to bring their true selves to work  

this is what generates the positive energy in our restaurants that we’re known and loved for 

our guests come from all walks of life, and so do our people. every team reflects the community we’re part of, so when we lean in to things like pride, eid or international women’s day, it comes from a place of honesty, and a genuine desire for everyone to feel like they belong here 

a particularly important focus for us is young people and school leavers. over 45% of our team are aged 16-25, and their talent and energy are vital for the future  

creating the right kind of space for the next generation to find their feet and flourish is how we start to write the next chapter for our business 

we're proud that wagamama has been recognised as one of the most diverse workplaces in the restaurants sector in the FT Statista Diversity Leaders list on multiple occasions, including ranking us as Europe's most diverse restaurant workplace in 2025

knowledge for life

for our team members, we know that personal growth is important, and it’s something we all value  

in an industry like ours there are so many different, fascinating directions people can go in, and there really is something here for everyone 

we understand that everyone has their own learning style, so to make sure we’re as inclusive as possible, we design training and development around each person individually, through our innovative sodatsu e-learning platform 

from digital courses, podcasts and tutorial videos to live webinars and developing new leaders with face-to-face mentoring, we support everyone to build the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. so they can progress at their own pace, in roles they love 

because it’s about more than just doing a job. it’s about helping everyone to grow into the very best version of themselves  

being named one of the sunday times best places to work celebrates our dedication to supporting our teams with great perks, personalised development and a truly inclusive culture

wellbeing matters

for us, wellbeing works best when it’s a proactive thing. we don’t wait until someone needs support, we take the lead, and we’re always expanding the initiatives we have in place to look after our team  

our mental health support and guidance programme is called kintsugi wellness. it’s inspired by the Japanese art of nourishing mind, body and soul 

we offer mental health and wellbeing support to our team through both our employee assistance programme and our charity partner, shout, who offer round the clock text message support for anyone who needs it. text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258 to speak to a trained volunteer 

we also want our team to feel that they can safely and confidentially let us know if they’ve seen unethical behaviour while working with us, or if they’re struggling to juggle work with life and personal relationships. our online safe sanctuary is the space for them to do that, and our team deal with each issue swiftly and discreetly  

alongside these, we also run regular mental health and wellbeing events, offering  upskilling sessions and fundraising activities for our teams, while also partnering with mental health charities and community groups to help support those who are offering help to people outside of our own teams 

because true inclusion comes from knowing that, when they reach out, everyone on the bench can find a helping hand

making a difference

where we can, we play to our strengths as food professionals, and aim to address issues at the heart of the food system 

our teams know their communities best, and it’s important that the things they care about are what set the agenda, and that everyone on the team has a chance to get involved 

over the years, we’ve built long standing, meaningful relationships with many communities and charities through all sorts of creative and empowering initiatives 

for example, our bowl to soul fund empowers restaurant teams to get involved with local and national causes, especially those that support health, resilience and equity in communities 

it's through this that we launched out partnership with FoodCycle. the team at FoodCycle harnesses the power of food to reduce waste, fight food poverty and tackle loneliness. our chefs partner with FoodCycle kitchens regularly, and we fundraise for the charity through regular volunteering and charity events. through this, in 2025-6 we donated over 32,000 meals to communities supported by the charity 

we also partner with the charity Only A Pavement Away, helping to get people at risk of homelessness into work, and placing them into careers that will help them to build new lives 

so many of our team are passionate about causes in their community. and we’re proud to play a role in helping their passion make a real difference to other people’s lives 

…bowl to soul has supported Croftfest music festival in support of muscular dystrophy, the Treolars  school for children with physical disabilities, and trans charity sparkle…

Our sustainability journey

we're on a journey to learn more and do better, for both people and planet