What does a hotel consultant do?
So what I thought we would do this time is to have a memory-jogger, a list of things that we might all just forget to do.
Talking about the Corona Virus, have we registered for the provision of on-site testing kits for staff? Are you going to do that?
Have we come up with an information sheet detailing for staff how they will get tested?
Have we created a communication to tell our customers what anti-Virus-spreading precautions we have in place to keep them safe?
SALES
- Do we have any special activity that is usually advertised, but where we might have suspended that advertising during the closure period and now we might need to rebook that advertising?
- Will our EPOS systems need reprogramming in any way perhaps for the new VAT rate, or perhaps where there are changes on menu items or price changes made necessary by cost price increases?
- What sales levels are you going to plan for? How much stock do you need to buy in?
How many staff do you need on duty to satisfy demand but not be overstaffed?
Do you really expect sales to immediately open at the levels seen before the closure? - Are we legally ‘good to go’?
Consider such things as the Liquor License / Food Hygiene practices and records / Staff
Contracts, are they all up to date?
You might need to check the expiry date of First Aid Kits, for example.
GROSS PROFIT MARGINS
For sure cost prices will have gone up, and the new restrictions on EU imports and exports will have had an effect on cost prices too.
Make sure that you re-work the pricing of your menus and bar items and wines.
There is a FREE-TO-USE GP% Calculator here
Consider carefully how to pitch your pricing, we may not easily get away with higher pricing levels as customers may have got out of the habit of eating out.
STOCK ON HAND
We are going to have to check very carefully that we throw away all out-of-date stock and not JUST in the kitchens. A lot of the Bar stocks may have gone out of date by now too.
What do we need to buy in now, and in what quantities, to get going properly?
CLEANING
- A very through deep-clean will be needed everywhere before it will be safe to reopen the premises.
- Do the windows need cleaning before we open?
- Don’t forget to clean the insides and outsides of ALL refrigeration and ovens etc
- Don’t forget to empty and refill the fryers after giving them a good clean-out.
- Do the kitchen extraction units need servicing to stay legal?
MAINTENANCE AND HEALTH & SAFETY
It will be worth checking :
a. Electrics
b. Drains
c. Fire Alarms
d. Smoke Alarms
e. Fire Exits and that they are clear
f. Water Supply, cold water, that it runs clean
g. Water Heating, for the taps, that it still gets hot
h. Central Heating System (esp check the temperatures set right now)
i. The bins, you may have suspended collections for example
Check if there are any Contracts that may have expired and which we forgot to renew, or that we suspended for the closure. Such as
Refuse Collection
Glass and Plastic recycling
Regular maintenance contracts (eg lifts)
Regular testing of Fire Extinguishers etc.
Gardening
Window cleaning
Does the Laundry need to send us a batch of fresh linen? Is the linen in stock fresh enough to use or has it started to smell a bit?
Has all operating equipment been checked over, thoroughly cleaned, and tested to check that it still works?
EMPLOYEES
Have we decided who is coming back to work, on what dates, and for how many hours? And have we told them?
Have we worked out who might be partly Furloughed and partly working? And have we told them?
Have we worked out what a rota might look like, an especially in terms of employee numbers on duty at any one time?
Is there any formal Training needed before we open?
Are there any certificates (eg for First Aiders) that might have expired and need renewing?
Are there any courses that were being taken by staff and got interrupted by the Corona Virus?
Talking about the Corona Virus, have we registered for the provision of on-site testing kits?
Have we come up with an information sheet detailing for staff how they should get tested?
Have we created a communication to tell our customers what anti-Virus-spreading precautions we have in place to keep them safe?
SUMMARY
There is so much to do before we open for business, so many things to think about. Hopefully this article will help to get the thought process going, and help you to plan your own business’s re-opening. It won’t be easy, and a few things will take time to get right, but you will get there.
If you want to talk through any aspects of this article or discuss how it affects you and your business, just call me: David Hunter of The Bowden Group, on 07831 407984.
You can call me any time, but preferably 09.00 am – 09.00 pm on any day, weekends included. Or just send me a text message asking me to call you.
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