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There is now less than two weeks to go before the Hotelympia 10k launches the show in style so we checked in with one runner to see how his training for the event was coming along.
In the first of a series of blogs ahead of the event, which you can still register for, we check in with Stuart Moore, part of the marketing team at exhibitor Solo Cup Europe whose running diary will make us all feel a little bit jealous...
Eagle eyed operators can get their hands on a feast of offers at Hotelympia and we've sifted through the best of the bargains.
Black Rock Grill is holding a prize draw to win its latest Cafe Rock oven package worth £5,000. The package includes 16 rocks, 16 porcelain platters, stainless steel underplates, shovel and pick. Stand N1560
Bon Jovi fans could get their hands on two tickets to see the band live at the Amsterdam Arena complete with return flights from the UK and two nights' accommodation to mark the launch of Lincat's heavy duty Opus 700 cooking equipment. Stand N2131
Villeroy & Boch is offering 20% off all orders placed for its tableware during the show. Stand S2125
Other offers include...
Sodexo's done it, ISS Eaton is about to and In House Catering is considering it.
No, not hiring Lenny Henry to front a marketing campaign as in the case of Premier Inn, but rather repositioning their businesses and the message they send to the market.
Under new boss Simon Titchner, previously with Aramark, ISS Eaton looks set to enjoy an interesting year with a number of acquisitions on the cards and plans to unveil a new image latter this year.
Having been swallowed up by Danish cleaning and facilities giant ISS in 2004, the caterer’s new team feel their profile in the sector could be better and with the likes of a certain mobile phone operator newly on the books in their biggest deal to date certainly have something to shout about.
We’ve got a news analysis in this week’s Caterer and Hotelkeeper (7 February) on rebranding so take a look at the pros and cons for yourself.
Jess and Laura, the twins who made it to the final of Raymond Blanc's The Restaurant but were pipped at the post by Jane and Jeremy Hooper, are set to make their hospitality debut tonight.
The pair - who many viewers felt should have won the BBC2 show - will be offering food in the style of their Brown and Green restaurant at a pub near to where they live in south-east London.
Regulars at the Gipsy Hill Tavern in Crystal Palace will be treated to Jess and Laura's food every Friday night and Sunday lunchtime.
I bring you this world exclusive news having seen a flyer on my car last night, living, as I do, three minutes from the Tavern.
The Hoopers' Eight at the Thatch pub/restaurant in Thame, Oxfordshire has been a hit with both customers and critics, so the twins will be hoping to emulate them.
Update: The twins' initial efforts seem to have gone down well, if this posting on the Virtual Norwood message board is anything to go by."Was in there on sunday afternoon and sampled some of their food and its GORGEOUS!!! very reasonably priced and wholesome! I had bangers and mash - with spinach mash and onion gravy! and then banoffee pie for after which was amazing! all home-made! get in there and try it!!"
De Vere may be about to unleash its hi-tech Hub onto an unsuspecting meetings market but one independent is planning to fight back...with reading glasses.
Yes while the opening of the latest Village hotel in Ashton Moss this April will see the launch of the first Hub, a state-of-the-art purpose built business facility with seven conference rooms, plasma screens, Wi-Fi, air conditioning and natural daylight and blackout facilities throughout, the Bear hotel in Hungerford is taking a more low-key approach.
Although many won’t have seen this one coming, Bear general manager Colin Heaney has introduced complimentary specs to use during meetings ranging from +1 to +3 for long-sighted delegates.
Heaney said:
“I’m always looking to add value for our customers and this is a small touch that I am sure will be appreciated. On occasions I’ve discovered a desperate delegate struggling to read a document or menu, purely because they’ve left their reading glasses on the table at home.”
Whether Village plans to follow the Bear remains to be seen.
The folks at CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) are gearing up for Community Pubs week, which starts on 16th February. To promote the event they have provided drinkers with the kind of trivia guaranteed to win any pub quiz. Take it away boys...
The three most common pub names are:
Red Lion
Crown
Royal Oak
The highest pub in Britain is:
Tan Hill Inn, North Yorkshire at 1,732 feet above sea level
The smallest pub in Britain is claimed by three pubs:
The Nutshell, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
The Lakeside Inn, Southport Merseyside
The Smiths Arms, Godmanstone, Dorset
The largest pub in Britain is:
The Regal, Cambridge
Channel 4 has had its knuckles rapped for undue product placement in Jamie Oliver’s latest cookery show Jamie At Home.
Viewers complained to Channel 4 after Jamie made several references to his Flavour Shaker and demonstrated it during the series.In one of the shows last September, he referred to it by name before spending two minutes demonstrating how to prepare an oregano oil with it. There were also a few close-up shots of the Flavour Shaker and further references to it in an episode broadcast in October.
Ofcom ruled there was "insufficient editorial justification" for how the Flavour Shaker was referred to and shown on screen, and rapped Channel 4 for failing to "ensure full editorial control over the content". Channel 4 apologised and said closer scrutiny would now be applied to acquired programming.
Nonetheless I can’t help but wonder whether Jamie plugging his own product on his own TV show should be considered “undue”.
The problem with hotels, you’d have to agree, is that they don’t tend to move about (bar the occasional tremor).
By extension the problem with being a hotel concierge is that although the guests change those four walls around you do not.
Although more practical types would suggest an internal move or a change of hotel employer, I say let us not limit ourselves with such humdrum and earthly concerns and instead turn to Air New Zealand for inspiration.
Yes the airline is introducing in-flight concierges, in a move it describes as a first in aviation. Either way, it could be the perfect way to practice your art and see some of the world.
In-flight concierges will be dedicated to “making every customer journey special – before, during and after flight”, although I’ve no doubt it’s all legal and above board.
Air New Zealand will have 90 concierges, with 22 based in London and they will be a combination of travel advisers, disrupt managers (!), loyalty experts and destinational experts – according to the blurb.
Those interested in changing their scenery should fill out the online application form no later than 27 February.
Ultimate domestic goddess Delia Smith has hit out at celebrity chefs saying they’re ridiculing the public with fussy recipes and arrogant attitudes.
In an interview with Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, the 66-year-old, whose new cookbook, How to Cheat at Cooking, comes out on Friday, slammed the snobby, elitist cookery programmes by celebrity chefs for making fun of enthusiastic amateurs at home. She added that her mission has been to encourage everyone to enjoy cooking.
“I do not want to knock television chefs. I think it is great to have lots of cooking on TV, enabling people to learn about different food and ingredients,” Delia said.
“But what I do not like is amateurs being made to feel like they are being ridiculed. I think people should be encouraged if they are watching a programme. It puts everybody off if you have got some very, very top chef saying 'No that is not right. You haven't got it right’.”
However, Delia added she could not fault television chefs Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. “I really love Jamie and Nigella. I think they are both really good at helping people with their cooking,” she said.
Last night saw the return of trashy BBC1 drama Hotel Babylon to our TV screens, with its usual mix of hokum storylines, hammy acting and "celebrity" appearances.
But, showing a commendable knowledge of the hotel sector, the writers got in a mention of your favourite industry bible, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, with a character pretending to be a reporter writing a feature on the hotel.
Perhaps it's not so bad after all...
“Has sir decided what he would like today? The oysters are very good.”
“Okay, half a dozen oysters. And the liver for main.”
“Very good sir.”
“And bring me some hubba bubba as well!”
“What flavour sir?”
“Let chef decide.”
It’s nice to see the spirit of Michael Dinner alive and well up north. The Little Britain character, based on, oh, no one in particular, had an appetite for fine food matched only by his appetite for the finer things in life – Monster Munch, Um Bungo and Hubba Bubba. So it’s only natural to draw comparisons with a certain owner of Lincolnshire-based restaurant Winteringham Fields, Colin McGurran.
The British Medical Association (BMA) is not exactly a body known for being the life and soul of the party, or being down with the kids for that matter. You’re more likely to find the doctors’ body offering advice on healthy amendments to the Licensing Act than spinning tunes on the ones and twos.
This was perfectly demonstrated at a press conference today on the affects of binge drinking and how the Government can legislate against alcohol misuse. A journalist asked what BMA thought about rock and pop stars at the previous night’s Brit Awards drinking alcohol and getting on stage drunk.
The BMA panel mounted its high horse yet again, claiming that as role models for the young the entertainment industry had a role to play in changing public perceptions about alcohol and its misuse. Sadly, images of Mark Ronson appearing on stage in a state that can only be described as “absolutely battered”, only strengthened the BMA’s argument.
However Professor Sir Charles George took a more traditional route to his criticisms of stars’ behaviour at the Brit Awards. “I watched 10 minutes,” the Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology said. “I was so appalled I turned off. It was horrendous.” Exactly Sir Charles. I am no fan of Mika either.
Unbeknownst to the BMA Caterer had sought to subvert the content of the press conference. I turned up to the event recovering from an inebriated state that seven pints of London Pride on a Wednesday night had created. I can only apologise for being the kind of individual that the BMA is trying to stamp out but at least I share their views on Mika. Now eradicating his performances is something worth campaigning for and would be less traumatic than another ammendment to the Licensing Act.
There’s a lot of legwork involved in “going green” as a business but contract caterer Vacherin has gone a few steps further than most.
In this Thursday’s Caterer and Hotelkeeper (28 February) we have my latest Adopted Business update on the City based contract caterer.
The subject of the article is Vacherin’s efforts in the field of sustainable business practices and the challenges a small privately owned business faces.
Of course, everyone is concerned about carbon footprints these days – just look at the current vilification of bottled water – and as part of their green measurements Vacherin undertook an assessment of their own, working out the distance from one of their City clients to five different suppliers.
So what? Well the thing that made me chuckle was that they’d worked it out by cycling from the client to each supplier (less than 20 miles in distance as a round trip).
.. or how Manchester lost 3,000 new hospitality jobs to create an extreme sports centre and a BMX bike track for the Olympic Games.
These are just some of the ideas the Government look set to propose as they outline plans to scrap the supercasino project and give Brits 16 casinos instead (plans will be unveiled at 3.30pm today).
The supercasino has been a drawn out affair leaving hospitality operators in limbo for years. Firstly we all thought that Blackpool would be awarded the site - leading to a rush for hotel properties in the seaside town that are being put up for sale again. Secondly we thought the Millennium Dome would take the crown and host Britain's largest casino but instead it was turned into an arena for pop concerts. Then Manchester were the shock winners but Gordon Brown became Prime Minister and prudent Gordon doesn't enjoy gambling (unless he is betting on Northern Rock).
The City of Manchester has threatened to take the Government to Court after it spent £240,000 of council tax payers money on winning the bid which would have been worth £265m to the regional economy.
Hospitality operators may be chomping at the bit to get hold of some outlets in the 16 regional casinos but it will take a canny operator to create 3,000 jobs out of a BMX bike track.
This government has often been accused of cronyism but ministers can't have friends in all places, as work and pensions secretary James Purnell discovered during his stint at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
In an interview with men's glossy Arena, Purnell has revealed the indignity of being refused entry to a nightclub in his Greater Manchester constituency because he was - like any trendy London type - wearing trainers.
"I was minister for licensing at the time," he recalls. "But I couldn't very well say: 'Do you know who I am?'."
Very admirable. But all was not lost."We went to another pub and did what I think is called 'the train', where I stood in the middle of people with proper shoes and we all went in really fast and hoped they wouldn't notice."
My mates have always favoured the black socks pulled over the trainers approach, but each to their own...
Although Benugo has joined the WSH Group, home of contract caterer BaxterStorey, anyone fearing any loss of individuality can rest easy.
A chance meeting with Benugo co-founder Hugo Warner at the company’s restaurant at the BFI’s National Film Theatre on the South Bank in London left me in no doubt that Benugo would continue to do what it does without compromise.
Warner’s certainly not planning to put his feet up anytime soon and clearly loves the buzz of operating at locations, such as the BFI, without any client subsidy, essentially living or dying by the operation’s success at getting bums on seats and wallets open.
What’s the Benugo formula? Well, there’s certainly plenty of personality on show in the choice of fixtures, fittings and furnishings at the BFI site. There’s also an evident quality (despite a tiny kitchen) to the food and how it’s served.
But maybe that extra special ingredient is an all too rare one in business: a sense of humour.
I was tickled pink to discover that if peckish at the bar you can order a pint glass of sausage rolls (scotch eggs were apparently tried but didn’t fit).
Certainly not something you’d find available at Gordon Ramsay’s Foxtrot Oscar.
With Poland single handedly plugging the UK skills gap at the moment, especially in London, it seems the capital’s marketing bods have decided that if you can’t beat them, join them.
Visit London has launched its first ever advertising campaign in association with Poland’s low cost airline Wizz Air (which sounds a bit like a new Nike trainer) promoting the capital to would be Polish tourists.
Apparently half a million Poles came to visit in 2006 and contributed around £278m to the London visitor economy, so bringing Pole to Pole is seen as increasingly lucrative.
It does seem that London’s influence is growing though, as some of the events being promoted as ideal for a London city break are St Patrick’s day, which perhaps we’ll let slide, and the Oxford and Cambridge boat race! Which does seem to be stretching it somewhat.
Visit London appoints Grant Hearn to the board>>
The food trolley appears set for a renaissance thanks to a new scheme from contract caterer Compass and Innocent smoothies.
Alas, here at Caterer Towers our own trolley service was nipped in the bud a few years back meaning us lazy journalist types now have to wander far further away from our desks to find a suitable bite to eat than before.
But Compass obviously senses an opportunity and is bringing back the trolley, now covered in grass in these green focused times, stacked with the drink of the present, the smoothie.
Trolleys are being trialled at around 50 sites and if a success will be rolled out (sorry).
This page contains all entries posted to The Caterer Blog in February 2008. They are listed from oldest to newest.
January 2008 is the previous archive.
March 2008 is the next archive.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.