From Team Member to Senior Leader: The Power of Internal Development at Hollywood Bowl Group

July 2025

This article was originally featured in the June 2025 edition of WorkLife Business News which you can view here!

Written by: Melanie Dickinson, Chief People Officer, Hollywood Bowl Group.

At Hollywood Bowl Group, our people are at the heart of everything we do. As Chief People Officer, I’m incredibly proud to share the exciting progress we’re making in developing our internal talent through our Future Leaders programme: our flagship initiative designed to nurture and grow the next generation of leaders from within our business.

Future Leaders is more than a suite of training programmes—it’s a long-term investment in our team members. From Assistant Managers and Graduate Managers in Training, to Centre Managers and Senior Leaders, we’ve built a robust framework that supports career progression at every level.  Our programmes include a blend of learning approaches, from face-to-face workshops, a dedicated coach that will meet with the learner monthly, a digital learning journey and plenty of on-the-job experience.

We’ve recently expanded this offering to include a Top Talent Programme for our Support Centre, giving our support teams a clear and structured path to becoming department leads and Support Managers. This is a significant step in ensuring that every part of our business has access to meaningful development opportunities.

Following the successful addition of our Graduate Manager in training programme in 2023, I’m also thrilled to share that we have just launched our Apprenticeship Manager in Training programme. Currently in the recruitment phase, this initiative is a game-changer for early careers. Over three years, participants will not only gain hands-on experience and earn a salary, but they’ll also graduate with a BA (Hons) degree—completely debt-free. It’s a powerful example of how we’re enabling our team to earn while they learn.

The results speak for themselves:

• 33 of our 75 Centre Managers have progressed through internal development
• 85 Assistant Managers have been promoted after completing our Assistant Manager in Training Programme
• 77% of our team feel they are being developed according to our latest engagement survey.

But we’re not stopping there.  We continue to evolve our approach to Learning & Development by embracing the digital world.  Digital transformation is not just about technology—it’s about creating a culture of continuous learning and innovation. By embedding digital tools into our Future Leaders programme, we’re equipping our teams with the skills, confidence, and agility they need to lead in a fast-changing world.

Our goal is simple: to create a culture where every team member feels supported, valued, and empowered to grow. The Future Leaders programme is a key part of that vision, and I’m very excited about what lies ahead.

This article was originally featured in the June 2025 edition of WorkLife Business News which you can view here!

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