Sustainability

 
As an independent family-run business located in an area of outstanding natural beauty, we understand the importance of protecting our environment and promoting responsible tourism. Owned by the Illingworth family since 1997, The Yorkshire Bridge Inn has always been led by family values and focussed on ensuring that our employees, environment, and local community are supported and cared for. 
 
We buy as much as we possibly can locally, supporting not only our local farmers and growers but also ensuring our produce is fresh, of the highest quality and doesn’t have to travel far to get to us. Our employees have a significant impact on our business and steer our choice of charity partners and worthwhile causes etc. Here’s a little taster of our sustainability priorities: 
 
Our Food
 
Our chefs at The Yorkshire Bridge Inn believe that regional produce is by far the best, so they use quality products sourced from carefully selected local suppliers, together with herbs from our own kitchen garden.
 
Our local suppliers include:
  • Middleton’s Dairy 
  • Howes of Sheffield
  • Sailbrand
  • Ladybower Fisheries
  • New Close Farm 
  • Hope Valley Ice Cream
  • Thornbridge Brewery
  • Abbeydale Brewery
  • Bradfield Brewery
  • Peak Ales
  • Forest Gin
  • Shivering Mountain Gin
  • Shining Cliff Gin
  • Hattersley Wines
  • Holdsworth’s
  • Forge Coffee Roasters in Sheffield 
We stock a wide range of Derbyshire Gins at the bar and a superb selection of beers from local breweries. Our wines may come from all over the world, but they are sourced by our award-winning local wine merchant, Hattersley Wines, based in Bakewell.
 
Our Charity Partner
 
Supporting local charities and causes has always been part of our nature. Whether it’s fundraising for a defibrillator cabinet or hosting an annual charity walk – it really is important to us.  
 
Since 2023 Blythe House Hospice has been our charity partner. It’s a charity that plays a huge role in our county, offering compassionate care and assistance to people in Derbyshire who are affected by life-limiting illnesses. The 24/7 Hospice at Home service provides end of life care to patients, whilst nurses provide expert care and advice for those affected by a life limiting illness or a bereavement, and there’s counselling and bereavement support available too.  
 
We try to help their impactful work by supporting the charity in a number of ways including:
  • A 50p donation is made to the charity from every sale of our local Ladybower Trout main course
  • We hold events, such as our recent games night which raised over £500, and the proceeds are donated to Blythe House Hospice. 
  • Two of our team members are joining forces with other supporters to ‘Trek the Sahara’ as a fundraiser for the charity in March 2025. They are hoping to raise over £4,000 through various initiatives.  
  • We host a lovely annual wreath making event in December each year
Community
 
Promoting our local area and economy to ensure a thriving community is important to our business and team members. 
 
To support our local community we:
  • Support local charities that matter most to our team and identify where we can have the most impact
  • Whenever possible we purchase from our local communities to support other local business
  • Work with organisations such as to champion locally sourced produce or local experiences
 
Environment
 
We’ve always been conscious of the impact we have on our local area and we’re always trying to identify what more we can do to protect our natural environment for future generations and reduce our footprint. Some of the things we already do and have planned include;
  • Managing and monitoring our use of energy and water
  • Planning the introduction of solar panels in order to generate our own electricity
  • Reducing and recycling waste
  • Ethical procurement
  • Promoting environmental awareness and responsibilities to all employees
  • Encouraging staff and guests to travel sustainably
  • Providing extensive facilities for cyclists & walkers
  • Installing bird and insect houses and encouraging wildlife habitats on our properties
  • Enabling guests to refill their own water bottles at our refill station
  • Promoting the Countryside Code to our guests
  • We’re members of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire and as a result we learn about local initiatives and ideas that have worked well in other locations and could be implemented here
  • We work with other local operators so that our guests can find services and experiences within the immediate area
 
Our Team
 
Our excellent team keeps our business running and is the very foundation of our success. We have a number of team members with over 30 years service, as well as multigenerational family members working within our business.
 
In order to support our team members, we offer:
  • Free access to an Employee Assistance Programme
  • Funded professional development
  • Contributory pension scheme
  • Free parking
  • Free meals & refreshments
  • Generous staff discount
  • Recommend a Friend bonus scheme
  • Our team members have always been awarded 100% of any tips or gratuities which our guests kindly leave, we have never deducted a service or credit card charge
  • We celebrate hard work and success! We’re closing for an evening in early 2025 so that the whole team can dine out together and enjoy an 80s themed night!
  • In March we’ll be taking a number of our team members to the Visit Peak District & Derbyshire Awards Night so that they can enjoy the event and share in the honour of being nominated for awards