Orchid to spend £100k a year on improving service

Pub company Orchid Group is to spend £100,000 a year on a new scheme aimed at improving the service its staff offer customers.

The firm said that ahead of the VAT increase in January 2011, it wanted to put a renewed focus on "exceeding customer expectation".

The new "Exceptional Hospitality Scheme" will start in August across its Contemporary Carvery, Modern British Premium and The Living Room businesses and will allow customers to provide feedback through texts and online.

Orchid has worked with customer experience specialist Retail Eyes on the project, which will consist of two structured visits per month, looking at "customer engagement" rather than a standard mystery guest approach. The scheme will also include a facility which allows any customer to feedback their experience to Orchid's senior management directly.

Meanwhile, the full real-time reporting for each business via text alerts and e-mail will enable Orchid to immediately reward staff who demonstrate good customer service. Any employees who are singled out will receive a £50 high-street voucher and a personal thank-you from a member of Orchid's board.

Simon Dodd, commercial director, said: "Our passion for exceptional hospitality has always been at the heart of Orchid's long-term strategy, but we know if we don't attract and nurture the best people, this promise will be broken. Investing over £100,000 in the Retail Eyes scheme shows our commitment to creating a leading hospitality company.

"The fact that we will be driving home our customer promise of 'exceptional hospitality' will raise the bar even further. Customers will be encouraged to leave feedback online after spending time in Orchid's pubs, with rewards and incentives on offer for doing so. We're opening up a new route for hearing feedback from our customers, and their comments on service and experience will enable us to reward staff who deliver exemplary service, and if we don't deliver the experience our customers deserve, they'll soon let us know about it," he said.

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By Neil Gerrard

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