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We are pleased to welcome a few new clients this month – Viet Restaurant in Milton Keynes; The Clifton Sausage and Quadrant in Bristol and Babur in London. We look forward to boasting their sales!
Finding great staff is essential to the growth of any business - which is especially true in the service industry and hospitality.
But where do you advertise to ensure that you get quality applicants?
Fresh Catering Jobs (www.freshcateringjobs.co.uk) is a new recruitment site for hospitality professionals. We have big plans for the company and aim to be the best site in the industry within in a few years. With a number of ground breaking innovations that are currently in development not to mention exceptional contacts and marketing skills from Captivate Hospitality.
To advertise your vacancies for FREE for the next 6 months please email info@captivatehospitality.co.uk
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Latest articles
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The Caterer and Hotelkeeper Business Summit |
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Captivate Hospitality Director, Guy Holmes has been asked to give advice in the Marketing Clinics at The Caterer and Hotelkeeper Business Summit which will take place in London on 19th June.
To save an extra 10% on top of the early bird rate by quoting AUW49523 when you book your place.
The Submit is aimed at management across all sectors of the hospitality industry including hotels, restaurants, catering companies, venues, pubs and bars, this conference will equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to overcome the challenges you will face over the coming year.
In just one day, benefit from:
- 14 business focussed sessions
- invaluable information from leading industry experts<link to speakers> including Robert Cook (De Vere Village Hotels), Ufi Ibrahim (British Hospitality Association) and Sandie Dawe (VisitBritain)
- Case studies from both large groups and smaller, independent operators
- 2 ½ hours of networking time
Click here for more information:
http://www.catererconferences.com/catererandhotelkeeper2012/business-clinics
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Why Restaurant Marketing |
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These day’s the restaurant market is very competitive with lots of pubs, restaurants and bars for customers to choose from. The choice is almost overwhelming with every conceivable type of dining experience catered for – especially in laces like London. You may well provide fantastic food with a perception of value for money in beautiful surroundings topped off with great service. But most places these days will argue that they do to. Therefore you need to restaurant marketing to get your message across to your target markets. Word of mouth still remains one of the most powerful forms of restaurant marketing – give customers a great restaurant experience and they will tell their friends resulting in a growing customer base. However this takes a great deal of time and will bills to pay you can’t rely on word of mouth exclusively. You most conduct some restaurant marketing– if you are proud of your restaurant and what it does, why not tell everyone? Most restaurants are busy on Friday and Saturday nights but struggle to get customers early on in the week. This is where a restaurant marketing campaign can really help as long as it’s thought out and target market specific.
Restaurant marketing can take many forms but the thing to remember is that the majority of any restaurant’s customers will either live or work within a mile radius of that particular restaurant. Therefore your restaurant marketing efforts need to focus on your local community. Approach everything in your area that your target customers will have contact with organising strategic alliances, discounts and joint ventures. These will include anything from large local employers to golf clubs to charities to schools.
Most busy restaurants spend on average 3% of turnover on restaurant marketing – that’s why they are busy! So don’t delay start restaurant marketing today!
But if you want your restaurant marketing done by professionals with a wealth of experience phone Captivate Hospitality today on 020 8746 7366 or email info@captivatehospitality.co.uk
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Finding a new site |
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Finding the right site for a new restaurant is essential. But what makes the perfect site? This largely depends on who you are targeting the restaurant at. Obviously a new fine dining restaurant will only work in certain areas where those that live and work in the area have a high disposable income. There are other critea that maybe of importance such as parking, outside seating, a function room, space for a bar, transport links and footfall. Most people set their sights on high street locations for the obvious reasons of high footfall and exposure. However in some cases it maybe preferable to be on a side street, as you will be able to get a cheaper place and / or a larger space for your new restaurant. The money that you save by not having a high street location can be spent on restaurant marketing to ensure that you still receive a high level of exposure. It’s vital that you carry out detailed analysis of each proposed new restaurant site. This will include information on the competition (brand, prices, menu, décor, size, restaurant marketing etc) the demographics of the area as well as a detailed SWOT analysis.
There are many estate agents that specialise in the restaurants and these will be able to show you a wide range of suitable premises. Some landlords will require a landlords pack – this will contain information on the brand, the clientele that you seek to attract as well as the financial backing and stability of the company.
Captivate Hospitality are experienced in helping would be restaurateurs find new sites and writing landlord packs. Get in touch today to see how we can help,020 8746 7366 or email info@captivatehospitality.co.uk
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TRAINING YOUR
RESTAURANT STAFF |
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There is a standard saying in the restaurant industry “Supermarkets sell food, restaurants sell service” – therefore it’s essential that your staff give high levels of service. If they don’t it doesn’t matter how good the food is, customers won’t return. Achieving good restaurant service starts with employing the right staff. it’s amazing how many restaurants don’t check references and instead rely on how well a new member of restaurant staff works during a trial shift. During the interview stage you are looking for 3 main attributes in restaurant staff - presentation, friendliness and speed. Presentation – if they can’t turn up to an interview with clean and iron clothes – then don’t waste your time giving them a trial shift! With regard to friendliness you will be able to tell if straight away if they have a friendly and helpful personality – these are the restaurant staff you are looking for. Lastly by speed I mean how fast they walk, talk etc. I don’t expect people to run or talk at 100 words per minute but those that walk slowly and generally do everything slowly are no good in a busy restaurant.
Once you have employed your restaurant staff make sure that you training them regularly and thoroughly. Training should be seen as an ongoing investment in your restaurant business rather than something that is only done once when a new restaurant employee starts work. Writing a training manual will be invaluable to ensure the same high level of service is achieved and will also outline exactly what is expected of your staff. This manual should contain information on restaurant selling techniques, good practise as well as service steps. More detailed restaurant staff training manuals will include a glossary of terms used in the menu as well as cooking times. If a customer is rushing off to the theatre he needs to know if dish takes 10 minutes or 40 minutes.
For help with writing your training manual and training restaurant staff contact Captivate Restaurants today 020 8746 7366 or email info@captivatehospitality.co.uk |
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