Page 1

Whats in Hospitality
Date: [Month, Year] Volume # | Issue #

Hospitality Industry
All the sectors that are providing food, beverages, and or accommodation services are included in the hospitality industry, these sectors include all kinds of hotels, restaurants, contract caterings, pubs, bars and other leisure hospitality services.

Hospitality in UK
Hospitality is considered The Evergreen Industry as it serves the two basic needs of a human being food and shelter, UK is considered one of the hospitality hubs in the world and it is still growing, the number of hospitality sectors are also diversifying with the evolution of comfort ability factors like the travel tourism and leisure entertainments being included in the industry. More than 1.7 million people are employed in about 263,000 outlets spread all over UK, there are about 270,500 people who are working in other sectors of hospitality like the travel tourism and gambling, youth hostels and etc,. Hotels are the most important and significant sector in the hospitality industry with 46,000 hotels and guest houses in UK and the annual turnover is about 40 billion, restaurants are employing more than 526,000 part time and full time empl yees, about 82% o percent of them are employed in England( Trends & Statistics, 2008, British Hospitality Association). The night clubs and pubs also contribute a very good share, contract catering contributed 4,165 billion in 2009 (facts and figures are reported in the Food and Service Management Survey 2010 published by , the British Hospitality Association. Available at caterer search.com) It is expected that there will be 68,000 managerial positions available for the graduates by 2017 than in 2007(People 1st State of the Nation Report 2009 - People 1st for Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism), this gives an idea about the huge development that is taking place in the industry.

Page 2

Contract Catering Contract catering has an advantage above all the hospitality sectors as it has defined clientele who come in to fixed term contracts with the contract caterers, this makes it a minimum guarantee sector. Most of the organizations which are not directly into the hospitality sector are relying on contract catering, this is what makes contract catering stand above. Contract catering services are distinguished from the regular food and beverage outlets, some of the differential factors are. y y y The relationship between the client and the organisation is very specific and pre detailed. The clientele is fixed and prescribed. The services are offered in the premises of the clients and organisations and at reasonable prices.

Contract catering is expanding its services, now contract catering is not only providing food and beverage services but also extending services in providing health club, cleaning and maintaining facilities of the premises. Contract catering is now offering services to different clienteles like the sporting events, airports, museums, and other leisure activities, even hotels these days are outsourcing the food from contract caterers for big parties a events to nd comply with the time and standards with limitations. Scale, Size and Scope in Contract Catering Contract catering contributes a very good share in the hospitality turnover and the number of employees working in contract catering is also more in number, it is the only sector in hospitality which entertains most of the part timers. Due to the effect of recession, the contract catering sector is facing a real hard time from 2006, as the number of employees working for the contract catering are decreasing in number due to lack of turnover. If you notice the number of fulltime employees is decreasing at a considerable level. (www.caterersearch.com)

Page 3

Fulltime

Parttime

Casual*

Total number of staff 139,836 148,470 149,201 146,307 150,487 256,272 260,411

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005^ 2004 2003

79,189 80,660 81,310 82,186 83,304 90,251 91,444

60,647 67,810 67,891 64,121 67,183 66,021 68,967

100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000

Number of F/T equivalent staff ** 109,512 114,565 115,255 114,246 116,895 123,261 125,927

Number of F/Tequivalent staff per outlet 6.7 6.7 6.5 6.6 6.9 6.7 6.7

(These statistics are reported in the Food and beverage survey 2010 conducted by British Hospitality association.) (www.caterersearch.com) Here are two contract catering organisations which are briefly introduced a with organisational structure and different job roles involved. Importance of Organisational Structure Organisational structure is very important for any organisation, it gives the employees a clear idea of their job roles and responsibilities, the organisational structure is defined by the range of operations that are undertaken by the organisation, it also helps in keeping up track of who is responsible for what and helps in tracking flaws in the operation. Introduction Baxter storey in located in west Berkshire, it is small and independent food service provider for the business and industry. They cater e very business and industry sector within the UK. With many branches operating on different locations, they have hired professional to support their team, to deliver the best food service They are well known for providing excellent on site catering, and the were y awarded for their passion for fresh ingredients, innovative menus and dedicated trained professionals team. Chef manager Servi e Manager

CEO

Waiting Staff

As the operations in the organisation are not so huge, the structure is very restricted and Department managers are responsible for all the operations related to their department. Event manager is responsible for handling all the issues related to a event and the chef manager takes care of the food production and service manager handles food service operations. Page 4

Event manager

Commi hef

Operations Manager: My daily routine starts at the meeting with all department heads, where we discuss the performance and todays events, issues are brought up to me as what is needed,I am responsible for the whole operations undertaken by the company, I should be looking after all the catering events co-ordinating with the event managers and take care of the finance matters and marketing strategies that are currently followed and future plans of increasing revenues and developing the business. Chef Manager: I am responsible for taking care of the whole kitchen operations, I am every where in events looking after the food preparation to service taking feedback from the customers, in my office I am always found on my computer doing some administrative work like the food costing, planning menus, co-ordinating with other department heads in making the events a success. In contract catering my job is actually to see day to day operation. Every day I take meeting with all staff to see how they are working in their concern work, any difficulties they are facing while work in a team. Event Manager: I am responsible for all the operations that are involved in managing events, all the indent and the manpower required are planned by me, am responsible for delivering service and food excellence, I am responsible for motivating leading my team in running successful operations. As the head of the operation I work very close with the top management and owners in planning and execution. Introduction: Seasoned Events, is part of the Crown Group UK, this is a group of privately owned companies, they mostly concentrate on the catering events and hospitality functions. London, seasoned events is voted as the best places to work with and has gained a considerable reputation over the years for providing the valued and fabulous food and events. Seasoned events can cater for every occasion, from birthday party t awards, summits, o, gala dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, wedding, Christmas parties and intimate dinners.

Head Chef

CEO

Operations manager Marketing Manager

Marketing Exe utives

As it is a very big organisation the organisation structure is very long and each of the operation is supervised and managed in many levels giving the structure strength and flow in smooth operations.

Page 5

Event Manager

Chef de Partie Head Waiters

Commis Chef ar staff and Waiting staff

ervi e Manager

sys There are many classification systems in hospitality which set standards of providing services, different hotels follow organisations different classification systems and there is no international grading systems as such because of the fact that it is not possible to bring different cultures and economies on to one platform, we will have a glimpse of different classification systems in different sectors. AA recognition schemes: High quality hotels have been approved by the AA almost since it was founded. In 1908, about 1,000 of the leading hotels worked with the AA scouts to provide information for motorists about the best places for lodging and boarding, and they were listed in the 1909 Handbook. The modern AA Hotel Guide lists more than 4,000 hotels from one star to 5 Star. Michelin Stars: Andre Michelin wrote a guide in 1900 to help drivers in finding good lodging facilities and other useful information. From 1931 Michelin brothers started to rate outstanding restaurants on the scale 1to3. Michelin is a restaurant grading system that is spreading all over the world now. Michelin grades restaurants on food, service and ambience with stars, three is the maximum that an exceptional restaurant would get. Getting a Michelin star increases the market value of the outlet and establishes goodwill in customers. Rosettes AA rates restaurants with rosettes and it rates restaurants on the scale of 1 to 5 rosettes, this is not a voluntary rating organizations have to invite rosette team to rate them. Whereas Michelin is a voluntary rating system. These systems allow the organisations to strive and work hard for keeping their positions safe, this gives the consumers the benefit of having excellent hospitality services in great ambience with very good facilities. Contract catering is no classification system to rate the services they provide, but if there is a rating system in this sector, it could help in giving a great scope for the organisations to develop their services meeting the standards and excelling in the sector, it also allows a healthy competition between the catering organisations in providing facilities and the quality of services. There are awards for the best contract caterers of the year one of such award is given by the caterersearch.com. but it does not focus on the services or standards but it focuses on the amount of business a organisation makes in a financial year. So having a classification system for contract catering can really help in developing standards of service. Classification system like a Michelin star for contract catering will be suitable, it should be based on the services and the quality of food provided by the organisations.

Page 6

Ownerships

Ownerships make a big difference for any organisation, there are different ownerships that suit different organisations, it depends on the size of the organisation and the operations that are handled by the organisation. We will briefly know the pros and cons of different ownerships that prevail in contract catering

Ownerships

Finding the Best

Individually Owned One individual owns the whole firm, he rises all the capital that is invested in the business and he takes whole and sole responsibility of the organisation. Pros  No influences on the business from other people.  Dont have share profits with anybody else.  Can take and implement decisions on his own wish and will. Cons  If there is a loss in the business, the sole owner will have to take the whole loss on himself  There are no multiple ideas coming in to the business.  For contract catering, there are some times more than one events, it makes it hard for the owner to be on different places to supervise or look after the operations Partnerships In partnership there are more than one individuals investing in the business, or in some cases partners make agreement of who is responsible for what. Pros  The responsibilities are equally divided and every body is keen on what one has to do.  One partner doesnt have to invest all the money in the business.If there is a loss in the business only one should not have to bear all the loss. Multiple ideas coming in.

Page 7

Private Limited Private limited companies are owned by a large group of individuals, the capital is distributed in the form of shares which the company can sell to family and friends. Pros  The operations are in such holdings are very big, this helps the business in diversifying and reaching a large clientele.  Capital of the company is not distributed on many individuals.  Creates goodwill and popularity in the market. Cons  There are chances that everybody, who has a good share will involve , in to the business.  Company loses faith when the share prices go down and may end up in loses.  Hard to take and implement decisions. Public limited Public limited companies are those which raise money by selling shares in stock market, there are no specifications of who can buy the shares. Pros  Can raise a lot of finance and invest in creating wider market for the organisation.  Limit of share holders is vast and makes it easy for fund raising.  Creates a wider range of stake holders. Cons  Complex process and long hierarchy.  Because of the service orientation in the public sector, the scope of profit making is less.  Rigid policies make monotony in decision making.

The Best Suited Ownership for Contract catering Caterer search awarded top 5 contract catering organisations, from which three positions were awarded to C ompass group, which is a private limited and the two other firms rated in the top five are also private limited companies, after a brief research on the contract catering sector and knowing their background, all the reputed and most business making contract caterers are private holdings, , from this we can make a preliminary decision that private limited companies show success in contract catering. (www.caterersearch.com)

Page 8

Support functions term itself suggests that the business supported by these functions and if there is no proper support, there is no chance for any organisation to stand still in the market without proper support functions, Support functions help the business to excel in every function that it has and grow in the market. We will discuss the importance of these support functions in hospitality relating to contract catering. Finance Finance department is further divided in to small sections like the financial planning, accounting and keeping record of financial matters of the company, the accounts department takes care of all the accounts that is the cash flow, it allows the organisation to analyse the performance of the company. Finance department works very closely with the chef manager to finalise the charges that are to be charged to the clients, it is also responsible for all the money matters in the organisation like the labour cost and allocating money for other departments like marketing.

Marketing Marketing allows the organisation in identifying the opportunities in the market and making them work for the company, it is responsible for taking the organisation into the market, marketing department works with the finance and the catering department, they develop strategies based on the market demand and trend, it advertises and makes the upsells the services and products. According to Peter F. Druker(1909) the ultimate goal of marketing is to know the customer in every sense and offer products and services according to them, which suits and gets sold by itself. ( www.brainyquote.com)

Page 9

Human Resources It plays a significant role in the organisation, Human resources co -ordinates with all the departments, it is the only department that gets into contact with every department, it is responsible for filling up the gaps in employment, they select and recruit employee on the basis of the required skills, training department is also a part of the human resources it ensures that the employees have gone through the organisations induction and some statutory training programmes, so that the employees are aware of the organisations policies and represent the image of the organisation, staff motivation is very important in keeping the potential employees with the organisation, it conducts staff appraisal and help the employees career development. Even during the recession organisations conducted staff training for motivation which helped them to do a very good business during recession also, it actually reflects the importance of human resources in business Technology Getting new technology will improve the effectiv eness of the operations and can reduce the labour cost, it will reduce the dependency of manual performances bring more effective and efficient results, it also saves time, energy and resources and contributes to profitability, inte rnet has given a great opportunity for the organisation to market itself, the organisations website allows clients to get information about the organisation and can enquire about services we offer, it also saved cost on advertising products and vacancies, some technologies had a great impact on hospitality like the food ordering tablet has reduced the human involvement factor to some extent, which decreases the opportunities of employment.

Page 0

Bibliography 1. About contract catering and types of contract catering Available at http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2010/06/11/305459/types -of-cateringcontract.htm accessed on 5th June 2011 2. About Michelin stars Available at: http://culinarytravel.about.com/od/planningculinarytravel/qt/Michelin_Stars_ Defined.htm accessed on 6th June 2011 3. About seasoned Events group Available at: http://www.seasonedevents.co.uk/ accessed on 8th June 2011. 4. About the AA star rating system Available at: http://www.theaa.com/travel/accommodation_restaurants_grading.html accessed on 6th June 2011 5. Finance functions and its importance Available at: http://www.ehow.com/list_6644024_functions-businessfinance_.html accessed on 11th June 2011. Accessed on 11 th June 2011 6. Funny corner Available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/57061852/Catchup 2011 accessed on 5th June 2011 7. Hospitality industry overview in UK Available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/industries_hospitality_overview.htm accessed on 7th June 2011 8. Human resources Importance in Hospitality Available at: http://www.pmsr.com/leader/nov09/jane-sunley.asp (Sunley) accessed on 10th June 2011. 9. Importance of Marketing in Hospitality Available at: http://www.smalltownmarketing.com/eightbasic.html accessed on 5th June 2011. 10. Importance of Marketing, Quote by Peter F. Drucker Available at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/peter_drucker_2.html accessed on 10th June 2011. 11. Information about the Baxter Storey contract catering organisation Available at: http://www.baxterstorey.com accessed on 11th June 2011. 12. Overview of the contract catering and operations in catering Available at http://www.ferco-catering.org/eng/general_overview.html accessed on 4th June 2011 13. The number of employees in contract catering Available at http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2010/06/10/305485/number ofemployees-in-uk-contract-catering-market.htm accessed on 5th June 2011 14. The top 5 contract caterers in UK Available at: http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2010/07/22/334366/caterersearch.co m-100-the-top-five-contract-caterers.htm accessed on 10th June 2011 15. The turnover of contract catering in UK available at http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2010/06/15/305462/uk -contractcatering-turnover.htm accessed on 6th June 2011

Page