A porter provides practical, hands-on support that keeps a hotel, office or other building running smoothly. Typical porter duties include carrying luggage or deliveries, moving furniture and equipment, setting up rooms for meetings and events, handling post and parcels, managing waste and recycling, and helping guests or staff with directions and requests. Porters are often the most visible members of a facilities team and the people everyone calls when something needs moving now.
This guide focuses on hotel and building (facilities) porters. If you are hiring for a kitchen, see our separate kitchen porter job description.
Types of porter roles
| Role | Where | Main tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel porter | Hotels and resorts | Luggage, guest welcome, rooming guests, taxis, errands |
| Building / FM porter | Offices, campuses, retail centres | Moves, room set-ups, deliveries, post room, waste |
| Night porter | Hotels and residential buildings | Overnight reception cover, security checks, late arrivals |
| Head porter | Larger hotels and estates | Leading the team, rotas, standards and training |
Hotel porter duties
The National Careers Service lists greeting guests, carrying luggage and showing guests to their rooms, answering questions about hotel facilities, arranging taxis and bookings, running errands, moving furniture for events and responding to safety and security issues. In many hotels porters also cover the door, look after luggage storage and support the concierge desk.
Building and facilities porter duties
- Moving furniture, IT equipment and archive boxes during office changes.
- Setting up and clearing meeting rooms, training rooms and event spaces.
- Receiving, logging and distributing deliveries, post and parcels.
- Collecting and segregating waste and recycling, including confidential waste.
- Restocking consumables such as paper, water and washroom supplies.
- Carrying out minor tasks such as changing light bulbs where trained and permitted.
- Reporting building faults to the facilities or helpdesk team.
- Supporting the reception and front of house team.
Porters play a big part in office moves. Our office relocation checklist shows how portering fits into a move plan.
Health and safety: manual handling
Lifting and moving is the biggest risk in portering. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 require employers to avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable, assess the risks where it cannot be avoided, and reduce them using trolleys, sack trucks, team lifts and training. Porters should be trained in safe lifting, should never move items that are too heavy for one person, and should report damaged equipment.
Skills and qualities
- Physical fitness and safe lifting technique.
- A helpful, friendly attitude with guests and staff.
- Reliability and flexibility, including for early or late requests.
- Organisation and accurate record keeping for deliveries and moves.
- Teamwork with reception, housekeeping, security and maintenance teams.
- A full driving licence is useful for some estates and hotel roles.
Training and qualifications
There are no formal entry requirements. Employers usually provide training in manual handling, fire safety and customer service. The National Careers Service notes a Level 2 Hospitality Accommodation Team Member apprenticeship as one route into hotel portering, and many porters start as kitchen assistants, cleaners or bar staff.
Porter pay in the UK
The National Careers Service gives hotel porter salaries of around £21,000 for starters rising to £27,000 with experience. Hourly rates must be at least £12.71 for workers aged 21 and over from April 2026, rising to £13.21 in April 2027. Night porters and head porters usually earn more.
Porter job description template
Job title: Porter (Hotel / Building)
Reports to: Head Porter / Facilities Manager
Location: [Site]
Hours: [Shift pattern]
Pay: £[rate] per hour
Purpose: To provide practical support that keeps the building, guests and staff well looked after.
Responsibilities:
- Handle luggage, deliveries, post and parcels.
- Move furniture and equipment safely.
- Set up and clear rooms for meetings and events.
- Manage waste and recycling.
- Report faults, hazards and security concerns.
- Provide friendly help to guests, visitors and staff.
About you: Fit, reliable, helpful and safety-conscious. Training is provided.
Need porters for your building or hotel?We supply trained porters and front of house teams on a regular or event basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a porter do?
Moves luggage, deliveries, furniture and equipment, sets up rooms, manages post and waste and helps guests or staff with requests.
What is the difference between a hotel porter and a concierge?
Porters focus on practical tasks like luggage and moving items. Concierges focus on requests, bookings and local knowledge.
What does a night porter do?
Covers reception overnight, checks in late guests, carries out security rounds and deals with any issues until the morning team arrives.
Do porters need qualifications?
No. Manual handling and fire safety training are usually provided by the employer.
Portering and front of house from WWSG
WWSG provides porters, concierge and reception staff for offices, hotels and venues. See our front of house support or contact us.