Robert Carlson Email & Phone Number

London Area, United Kingdom

Privileged to be joining a company with such heritage and a clear vision for the future, not just in expansion of sites and brands but in their dedication to developing a dynamic team.Greene King is a leading pub and brewing company with a proud heritage.We started as a small brewing business in 1799, based in the Suffolk market- town of Bury St Edmunds and have been brewing award-winning ales ever since. We brew some of the best-known and best-loved beers in the UK, including Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale.Over the last 200+ years we have continued to develop and expand significantly and have successfully acquired other brands and companies such as Old English Inns, Belhaven, Loch Fyne and most recently Spirit. Greene King now runs over 2,900 managed, tenanted, leased and franchised pubs, restaurants and hotels. You will find us in cities, towns and villages across England, Scotland and Wales.We operate three main business sectors: • Retail (Managed Pubs), including Hungry Horse, Farmhouse Inns, Chef & Brewer, Flaming Grill, Old English Inns, Belhaven and Local Pubs.• Pub Partners (Tenanted and Leased Pubs)• Brewing & Brands (Cask Ale & Premium Ale Brewing)We are focused on delivering exceptional value, genuine service and consistent quality to all of our customers and this drives everything we do. Essentially, we want them to experience authentic hospitality and come away thinking that their time with us has been well spent.

London, England, United Kingdom

Aspirational Brands is one of the UK’s fastest-growing hospitality groups operating at present 35 recognisable sites across the UK within shopping centers, high streets and iconic locations. Aspirational Brands mission is to deliver a diverse portfolio of popular brands of which currently there are 10, each with their own unique identity with an ethos of genuine hospitality and memorable experiences that appeal to everyone.

London, United Kingdom

Creating and implementing the business strategy with the CEO and CFO focusing on creating a robust compliant business for efficiency and sustainability. Responsible for the operational performance of the estate and direct line manager and support for the group of General Managers and other roles in the business. Responsible for the HR strategy of the business and ensuring HR regulations are implemented. Built the operational regime of the company from the ground up, building the infrastructure into an efficient operating model. Deployed a strategy to develop a people pipeline, where General Managers aspire to become mini CEOs of their businesses, taking ownership and accountability, this in turn enables the development of junior managers to create a succession plan with a pipeline of developed managers for roll out. Integrated new HR, Rota and Payroll systems and launched online training platform to further develop all in the business. Alongside the CEO built a culture and community for both employee and customers that allowed the business to flourish based on the foundations of the brand values we devised. Built a fully comprehensive compliance infrastructure. Building the recruitment strategy for operations and head office and created an induction process for all levels of the business. Launched a full café model which at the turn of year (2020) was generating 17% of estate revenue. Implemented an insightful customer feedback and mystery visit protocol which provided in depth knowledge on customer engagement, satisfaction and membership retention.

London, United Kingdom

Leading the operation of entire estate of 9 restaurants with a yearly turnover of £20 million. Line manager for 9 General Managers and the Training & Development Manager. Report directly to company Directors. Business review meetings held monthly with each restaurant General Manager, monthly General Managers meeting held with PowerPoint presentation created to report KPIs, financial figures, new procedures and marketing initiatives.Recruiting managers of all levels and developing the structure of each restaurants management team. Carrying out annual appraisals to develop stars of the future for the brand and set key objectives.Updating the policies and procedures of the company to ensure efficiencies and standards upheld. Monthly operational audits conducted to ensure restaurants are correctly managed.Project management including rebranding and refurbishment of 2 restaurants to date and the opening of 2 restaurants in new designed concept. Supervising and overseeing the closure of 1 restaurant.Reviewing business efficiencies to analyse area of cost control and setting procedures resulting in the increase of operating EBITDA by over £1 million in first year in role. Initiating and driving the delivery sector of the business accumulating a revenue stream of over £1 million p.a.Working alongside the General Managers to drive sales and spot business opportunities. Approving the budgets of the restaurants alongside the Finance Director.Ensuring all restaurants licensing are updated/renewed, weekly stock approval for all sites, ensuring due diligence is upheld to manage health & safety and food hygiene of all sites. Ensuring customer satisfaction for all sites is of an exceptional level.

London, United Kingdom

Developing and operating multiple sites for a contemporary and lively group of restaurants serving Dim Sum, Cocktails and Chinese teas. Managing units generating up to £4.3 million in net revenue with 85 employees. Led all aspects of operations, including the development of management and staff, succession planning, HR responsibilities, man management comprising of performance and competency management, appraisals and setting objectives. Managing restaurants’ P&L reports to meet annual operating budgets and designing budgets and CAPEX, developing cost control procedures to exceed the EBITDA budget set for a unit. Performing monthly financial analysis to evaluate financial position and to clearly communicate expectations and actions to maximize restaurants’ financial performance. Initiated and managed event planning for sites of various size external and internal including networking functions. Driving operational improvements, while ensuring a tight control on operational costs. Responsible for monitoring and continually improving standards of performance and quality within the operation. Encouraging, identifying and developing best practice strategy. Ensuring compliance to all Health & Safety and Food Hygiene goals & objectives. Producing sections of the operations manuals which define how the business is to be run including corporate marketing development procedure and auditing procedure.Developing sites through local business marketing with entrepreneurial initiatives including developing a Facebook page focusing on a specific unit; developing relationships with local corporate companies and creating PDF documents with exclusive offers, this technique alone produced a further £20,000+ within a year for a small unit, before the procedure was rolled out across the estate. Award General Manager of the year in 2014. Lead a group of General Managers to develop new mystery diner, digital customer feedback survey, operational audit, and weekly business summary report.