Tag Archives: Restaurant

Restaurant Week Comes to Birmingham and Manchester Restaurants

Online travel and leisure retailer Last Minute has announced that starting on 2nd March 2009, its very popular Restaurant Week will begin. This year the event will take place not only in London but Manchester restaurants and restaurants in Birmingham will also take part. The Restaurant Week is based on the New York Restaurant Week, which has been successful for a number of years now.

Last year in London over 100 restaurants took part including a variety of Michelin star establishments including Richard Corrigan’s Lindsay House, Almeida, Tamarind and Quilon. The expansion to include Manchester and Birmingham is a great idea as both of these cities are well known for their fine eating facilities.

The great thing about the event as it benefits both business and consumers. The restaurant week gives visitors to Last Minute.com the chance to experience fine dining at a fraction of the cost, which will no doubt help loosen the purse strings. The cities themselves will benefit from the tourism expenditure and Birmingham and Manchester restaurants will benefit from bums on seats as well as added exposure from the press.

Last Minute.com has once again partnered with Capital 95.8’s Help a London Child for the third year in a row and a percentage from each booking will be donated to the charity. This year they are expecting the participation of over 40 restaurants in Manchester and Birmingham and over 150 in London. Hopefully next year the event will expand to include Liverpool restaurants and possibly some Scottish and North Wales restaurants.

Staff Hiring Advice For Restaurant Owners

The success of any business is dependent on how well the entire staff performs. Even though individual employee efforts do contribute, it is through the efforts of the entire staff that a business records profits and flourishes ahead. The restaurant business is no exception. In fact, this is one area which is even more dependent on the quality and functioning of the employees. That is why it is imperative that you hire the best people available to fill in your available positions.

Hire Experienced Professionals:

A new restaurant needs employees who are already well trained and would prove to be an asset rather than a liability from the start. This is however not the case with new comers who need some amount of training before they can prove to be an asset. That is why it is best to hire employees who have considerable work experience. This holds particularly true for important positions like the position of chefs and managers.

Experienced chefs already carry a good name with themselves. They are also well versed in the field of culinary and would be able to better serve your customers. That way, you stand a good chance of making long term customers and gaining good reviews about your place. The importance of a manager cannot be overstressed. He is after all the one taking care and making sure that everything goes around properly in the restaurant. An experienced manager would not only able to manage better but also bring with him effective ideas which will ensure higher work productivity. He would also be in a better position to choose and pick promotional ideas which will help advertise and gain name for your restaurant.

You can also look at professionals who have had some vocational training along with work experience. Such employees are better trained and now about the finer nuances associated with their work.

Hiring Less Experienced Employees:

Lower rung positions can be filled with people with less or even no experience. Such positions would include the positions of the dish washer, table cleaner and the general housekeeping positions. However, you should refrain from recruiting complete amateurs for the entire housekeeping staff. There should be employees with some previous work experience who can teach the novices how to properly do their job.

Effective Staff Hiring:

The best way to hire quality staff is to list your job opening with a restaurant job search website. These websites deal exclusively with the restaurant sector and therefore attract a selected crowd rather than a homogeneous one. Your restaurant job listings will get a better response with these websites as compared to a general job website or classifieds in newspapers or magazines. You can post your openings at these websites either free or for a small fee. The fee in the long run is nothing compared to the quality of employees you would be able to hire.