John Blandy Email & Phone Number

Lisbon, Portugal

Madeira, Portugal

The PortoBay group has seen steady success over the past years and has managed to grow accordingly. Much of this success stems from being completely guest obsessed and making the experience the focus of our daily operations. At the heart of this we ensure to keep up to date with changing consumer habits and industry trends so as to deliver improved and tailored guest experiences that go above and beyond the modern travellers needs and expectations.In this way, my present role allows me to focus on areas for development and improvement both within our existing portfolio, and for future offerings - working throughout various teams and departments within the brand to try and build upon the standards of excellence that we have to take good to greatness. This allows me much flexibility in working practices, to take on various projects simultaneously, and to work across a varied cross-section of the organisation, helping to improve inter-departmental efficiencies and developing the brand offering for our future and that of our guests.

Aqua Shard

Aqua Shard is a contemporary restaurant housed on the 31st floor of the Shard serving the best of seasonal British cuisine.As Senior Restaurant Manager, I was responsible for driving the restaurant team's development, and introducing dynamic sales incentives to ensure that we continually hit our sales targets to exceed budget, which was approximately £1.2 Million Net Revenue per Month. A secondary, aspect to my role was to introduce 5-star service standards and elevate the quality of the Aqua Shard experience.Aqua Shard is a high volume outlet regularly hosting over 1000 covers per day making it a very full-time operation. This made it challenging to plan and conduct regular training sessions for the team, and much development had to be implemented Ad Hoc. However, working closely with the Learning & Developments Officer I looked to introduce personalised development plans for each of my team members that was eager to learn - helping them to achieve their goals and progress, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all tick box approach to development.I was charged with leading a restaurant team that was 48-strong, and whilst finding time for their development was challenging, the crux of managing a team that is so large, is learning to manage different personalities, backgrounds, and beliefs, and knowing how to mediate and diffuse tensions that occur in the everyday, with understanding, to build a stronger more cohesive and effective team.Whilst at Aqua Shard, I was also responsible for the Management of the Micros System across both Aqua Shard and our sister restaurant Hutong. This involved management of the Database and updating this as our menus adjusted seasonally, creating of new templates and designs to fit the business requirements on the POS systems, and tackling all manner of software failures and unit malfunctions so that the impacts were , minimal, contained, and rectified swiftly and efficiently, amongst other Micros responsibilities.

London, United Kingdom

The Savoy hotel has been a leader of innovation and luxury services to the global hospitality market since it first opened its door back in 1889. It remains on of a handful of hotels in the London market to hold a coveted Forbes 5-Star rating, and is an industry leader for sustainable practices. In 2006 the operations of the hotel were taken over by The Fairmont Group, whose Brand Values are perfectly embodied by The Savoy as a place that is Authentically Local, with Unrivalled Presence, and warm Engaging Service.My role included overseeing the day-to-day operations, as well as the administrative management and strategy planning & implementation. The daily operations allowed me to work closely with the team to create and maintain 5-star service standards, as well as work with each individual to tackle training and identify development opportunities for them and structure personalised development regimes. The administrative operations are compliant with FRHI brand standards and tied with the strategic and tactical business planning & implementation allowed me to work closely with a number of departments throughout the hotel to create synergy and maximise Simpson’s marketable exposure and develop new streams of revenue generation, whilst all the while streamlining existing systems.

Sydney, Australia

Janus is Sydney based Italian style cafe chain currently in 4 locations but expanding rapidly.The Kings Cross location was a special exception as it was developed primarily as a restaurant with a Brazilian/ Italian concept, with an attached bakery which was the sites secondary interest.Aside from assuming the responsibilities of the General Manager during his absences, which included running the front of house team, maintaining an updated EPOS system, handling cash, completing daily takings, co-ordinating with the accounts department and ensuring that the restaurant was consistently in good working order. My bar duties included among other things; updating the cocktail and wine list, designing and implementing staff training, creating appropriate stock counting and costing sheets, sourcing and maintaining good working relationships with suppliers, ordering, and overseeing day to day operations of the bar.

Sydney, Australia

Stamford Hotels & Resorts is an Australia & New Zealand based hotel group. The Sir Stamford Circular Quay is considered the flagship for the group. Located in the heart of Sydney this heritage building sports a luxury boutique hotel offering 5 star service in classical 'European' surroundings.Though I started working as a bartender, I quickly grew to take on more responsibilities which included ensuring that the bar operations were run correctly and efficiently. This included overseeing general cleaning, restocking and stock ordering, and creation of promotional concepts. Furthermore, responsibilities extended to assuming the managers responsibilities whilst he was away.

Madeira, Portugal

Porto Bay Hotels & Resorts is an International 4* and 5* hotel chain presently based in both Portugal and Brazil, with head offices in Madeira.During my marketing internship, I was required to audit the Porto Bay Group’s online web presence, with particular attention based on Google and the company’s website. Further responsibilities included; researching and developing proposals for new business opportunities including possible expansion into a number of social networks (Four Square, Google+), management of the customer loyalty scheme for in-house guests, and in part assume the responsibilities of my co-workers when away.

Lisbon Area, Portugal

Inspira is a portugal based hotel company which focuses on sustainability in every aspect of its operations. Currently it has operations in Lisbon, looking to expand to Oporto shortly.I was involved with the Inspira Hotel Group before the launch of their first hotel. At that time I worked as a bar consultant sourcing suppliers, menu engineering, creation of back of house management material, and development of marketing concepts, all focused on Inspira's core values for sustainability.Once the hotel was open I assumed a position there in the Food & Beverage department, though much of my responsibility centred around the bar. My principal role was to assist in the opening of the bar and as such developed a number of tools and put in place a number of standard operating procedures to ensure proper operations continued once I left. These included development of cocktail proformas in both hard copy and on the hotels Amadeus operations software, development of drinks promotional material for the following year of operations, and heading a cocktail training seminar among other duties.

Madeira, Portugal; Rio De Janeiro Area, Brazil; Buzios, Brazil

As part of my Undergraduate Degree I was required to undertake practical management experience. I sought my own opportunity and was privileged to be accepted by Porto Bay Hotels & Resorts where I was able to gain experience working in various departments of 4 and 5 star hotels. I worked in various roles and departments (Reception, F&B, Housekeeping, Finance, Human Resources, Marketing) which not only improved my basic service skills but also allowed me to appreciate how a hotel operates as an entity. Moreover, I worked in direct contact with the clients and had attained management experience in both Madeira and Brazil, which allowed me to appreciate how different cultures approach team management.

Designing Hotels And Restaurant Concepts

The Designing Hotel and Restaurant Concepts course is a full-immersive, intense, short-course that sets out the fundamentals necessary.

Leading The Family Business, Family Business

Managing the family business was an insightful, intense course covering aspects of; Evolving Family Businesses and Relationships, Family.

Master Of Business Administration - Mba, Business Administration And Management, General

The Lisbon MBA is a full-time program that takes a holistic approach to its students development, looking to give them not only.

Bachelor'S Degree, International Hospitality Management, 2:1

International Human Resources management, Cross Cultural Management, Strategic Planning & Management, Operations Strategy, International.