Providence Bay Ltd – Area Operations Manager I joined the group after an approach from one of the owners, who was looking for the right individual to assist with the expansion of the company. At the time there were five companies, with several outlets in each, across London and the South of England.My remit is to ensure the smooth running of the restaurants and to deal with any problems that may arise in any aspect of the day-to-day running. My management strategy is to have regular briefings with every restaurant and to visit one site daily. I also implemented fortnightly virtual meetings which enabled me to quickly identify potential issues and resolve them accordingly. I routinely monitor each site’s performance via an EPOS system so I can track sales, labour and stock levels. The EPOS system gives me an up-to-date picture of each site’s stock requirements and I approve them for the purchasing department to restock.I work alongside each site’s manager to ensure all staff are correctly trained and up to date with company procedures. The online training system, Eloomi is fundamental to staff development, so I ensure that this is completed by every employee and assist with further training if necessary. It’s my responsibility to head recruitment for senior management in each of the locations, one of the most challenging aspects of the job in the current environment.In addition, at the start of the week I present an overview of the performance of each restaurant to the Board and explain any problems that have arisen and how I have addressed them.

Whilst employed at Dough & Co, I was managing three restaurants at different locations in Suffolk & Essex. I was responsible for recruiting and training staff as well as the day-to-day operational requirements. This included stock control and purchasing from suppliers including multi-location discount negotiations.The CEO set budgets and revenue expectations and it was my responsibility to make sure these were met. Budgets being under 30% labour, 29% direct costs and remaining overheads.During my employment I successfully cut costs, increased revenue and was involved in marketing strategies to boost awareness and drive the business forward. My local knowledge also allowed me to take advantage of sales promotions and thus increasing turnover.

I am currently the general manager at the Ipswich branch of Favorite. This store a first of its kind pilot store that was only a few months old when I took I on. The stores performance was unpredictable with inexperienced staff. I transformed this into a stable business with dependable employees. I have achieved this by working alongside my staff as an equal to show them how things are done and better understand where I need to deliver additional training and support. I have focused on developing and retraining staff in health and safety to ensure we consistently achieve a five-star Food Hygiene Rating alongside a high quality product that customers love and come back for. I have always placed my staff at the center of how we grow the business by listening to their concerns, mediating these to the company owner and coming up with solutions to achieve a high retention rate. This includes; restructuring payroll, open communication with staff around their hours as well as working with drivers through the rising fuel costs crisis to ensure they were paid fairly under the proviso this is constantly under review. I liaise regularly with external stakeholders to ensure stock is delivered when needed and of a consistently good quality. I collaborate with the Head of Marketing to drive customer engagement through targeted advertising and deals to direct and enhance sales. I am heavily involved with the store’s projections; I work closely with the company owner to establish revenue, predicted growth and plan goals.

I was responsible for sourcing stock from partners and building relationships with them. I also developed new sales drive initiatives, considering the skills and workload of colleagues, which provided highly profitable results. Prior to the launch of these I have arranged and delivered training to staff in a friendly and professional environment. In meetings I would assess the performance metrics of the pubs and evaluate service delivery. I would then reskill staff and ensure the new standard was maintained through encouragement and feedback.

I worked my way from Shift Manager to the General Store Manager thereafter I was used to worked alongside the area manager to visit stores that were failing to turn them around. Once a store was identified as failing I, together with the area manager, would travel there and investigate the reasons for the poor performance along with a plan to improve. I would then be left in situ to drive the implementation which would involve retraining and motivating the management team across the spectrum of their responsibilities. One area I excelled in was the company systems. I had become somewhat of a subject matter expert on the company systems by constantly taking on extra responsibilities above my position which gave me a comprehensive understanding of how the business worked and its values. I would then work alongside staff I had identified as needing development to encourage and retrain them in order to give them, and the store, the best chance of success. I would then be left to conduct follow up reviews of the store to ensure these requirements were maintained.I was able to turn around six stores, around the UK, in six months whilst maintain the high standards of my own store where I was still the general manager. This required highly efficient time management skills as well as flexibility and prioritisation of task to enable me to react quickly to changing circumstances.