The Editor's Hospitality Blog

In this week's Caterer and Hotelkeeper, we offer twenty surefire ways to hang on to your most valued hotel, restaurant, bar and contract catering staff. Here are just five of them, to whet your appetite.

Our top twenty was put together with the assistance of such luminaries as Jane Sunley, from learning providers Learnpurple; and Sean Wheeler, group director of people development, Malmaison/Hotel du Vin.

ONE Keep things interesting: vary tasks and responsibilities to avoid staff boredom.

TWO Carry out regular appraisals: formal objectives provide focus and motivation, as well as a valuable communications channel.

THREE Don't be a harsh critic: avoid a blame culture, but let staff to learn from mistakes made.

FOUR Allow people to grow: allow employees the chance to strectch themselves and shine.

FIVE Say thank you: easy to do, just as easily forgotten.

Let me know what tools you use to motivate staff and keep them onboard.

I visited Gerard Basset's New Forest hotel, Hotel Terravina, last month. It's a lovely place, the decor all pastoral greens and moody shots of the countryside. Over lunch on the hotel's sun-kissed terrace, our conversation turned to wine - a subject Gerard knows a thing or two about, having co-founded the Hotel du Vin group and being a Master Sommelier, Master of Wine and wine MBA.

I asked Gerard what he would choose for his last glass of wine before dying. Quick as a flash, he opted for a Burgundy wine called Romanée-Conti - a Grand Cru from the village of Vosne-Romanée.

What would you choose for your final tipple before you shuffle off this mortal coil?

And what meal would you drink it with? let me know.

The Malmaison and Hotel du Vin annual "Corkers" awards ceremony took place last month to celebrate the achievements of the two hotel groups and their employees.

The dinner and awards took place at 30 St Mary's Axe, London, otherwise known as the Gherkin, where the catering is run by Searcy's, and was attended by 50 employees.

Award winners were largely on the invite list this year, as chief executive Robert Cook decided to scale down the event from previous years' 600-plus. Cook told employees who had won what and who would be en-route to the awards ceremony by sending out recorded video messages to all hotels with special instructions to watch their DVDs at a certain time on a chosen day.