In March 2020, lockdown was a new concept. Fast forward to now and lockdown, home schooling, travel bans and masks are all too familiar. However, there are people who need to travel for work purposes, or other essential reasons. With many hotels closed and travellers now more conscious than ever about social distancing, hygiene and public transport, homestays have become a more popular option for accommodation. But how can you be sure of the quality, safety and consistency of a home? That’s why TrustedStays is here! While it works perfectly during the pandemic to help our amazing NHS staff and all key workers in general, it is also a great solution for any worker needing to stay away from home for work purposes. At TrustedStays, we are really proud of our story, so we thought you’d like to see how it all started!

Overseeing day-to-day London operations. In short, operating hotel service across a dispersed network of homes including;Scheduling, Co-ordinating & enforcing standards across the operational team;Guests & Homeowners,GRT’s (Guest Relations Team),PCT’s (Professional Cleaning Teams),Linen,Maintenance.Property & Account Management including Maintenance (PPM & Reactive), ensuring homes are Guest-ready, homeowners & guest negotiation & conflict resolution.Recruitment & Training of new GRT’s, PCT’s, Maintenance contractors.Forecasting, preparing & reacting due to extreme changes in trade due to a highly seasonal business,SOP's, Policy, Project Management coordination, development & implementation,Systems upgrades including implementing new systems & procedures; KeyNest Applications (Key Management), TextMagic (Guest Communication Platform), Klevio (Keyless technology), developing training & on-boarding solutions.Promoted to Operations Director in October 2020.

Promoted from AGM to GM,Successfully Implemented, Lunch Buddies, Lunch/Break, Boozy Brunch & Local Pub Catering opportunities,Contributed to developing & expanding the menu including a Local Chef Special Menu Item resulting in to 15+% sales,Implemented successful sampling throughout July to increase weekly covers by up to 250+ L4L,Scoring 100% Mystery Diner Scores for 3 Months for Brunch shifts (Quarter 2) Including high 90%’s for Lunch & Dinner,This produced the following results,20% L4L Sales Growth (Beating my own performance in 2017),Improving EBITDA performance by over 15% YTD,Nominated for GM of the Year in 2018.

BurgerFuel is a New Zealand Concept Gourmet Burger Franchise. The Ponsonby store was the first, opened in 1995 and is the Flagship Restaurant. As well as setting and maintaining the highest system standards & sales, it has a number of other responsibilities including; Research & Development (Menu items, Equipment, System Updates etc.) & training Head Office Staff and new Franchisees.

This role allowed me to expand my skills I have already developed being a shift manager and apply them to an entire store. I learned all aspects of running a business including,Employee Relations; o Hiring new employees,o Performance managing under performing employees,o Discipline and dealing with insubordination,o Inventing reward schemes for consistently outstanding employees,o Conflict resolution. Customer Relations;o Selling and up-selling products,o Dealing with complaints and following up with unsatisfied customers,o Introducing the brand to new customers,o Encouraging customer interaction with staff and HQ promotions/competitions.Business Management; o Reducing labor costs,o Techniques to improve average customer spend,o Local and in-store Marketing/Promotion,o Dealing with supplier issues,o Maintaining the store and its equipment,o Completing Weekly and Monthly stock takes,o Analyzing past and forecasting future sales. Training;o I was responsible for the training of staff in all areas of the store including; Front of House, Chippie, Hot-side and Shift-Manager Positions.

The position I am currently employed is as the Weekend Day Shift Manager which means I open and run the store Saturday and Sunday. This position includes; ensuring customers get the best BurgerFuel experience possible, delegating jobs to staff, ensuring all prep jobs for night shift are completed, organizing staff breaks and introducing the brand to new customers.