All revved up
I adore my Harley-Davidson and that's how I get to work each day in London from Caterham, Surrey. I leave at 7.30am and arrive at the Poland Street, Soho, site an hour later.
08.30
I normally grab a bun and coffee from Coffee Republic before starting work. I'm general manager of two sites: Yo! Sushi upstairs, famous for its robot trolleys and conveyor belt carrying the plates in front of the customers; and Yo! Below, which we've had since the summer.
There are six unit managers between the bar and restaurant and I spend much of the day running up and down stairs between the two.
To keep myself on track, I carry a time-manager manual, which I find essential. I hate being disorganised. This manual allows me to manage my time and thoughts. I make lists all the time and jot down ideas spontaneously. My working week is organised but my private life is a mess!
10.00
No day's the same and at the moment I'm interviewing potential site managers from 10am. We're a young, small company and have a lot of say in what happens. Here there's loads of room for development.
We'll soon be expanding to cities such as Manchester and Birmingham and will have 15-30 new sites by the end of next year.
My working day, therefore, involves following up on the managers to see everything is working well while overseeing the running of our Poland Street site and thinking about future development. For Yo! Below, I'm planning on expanding the seating and improving the signage. There are also occasional strategic gatherings to attend, such as the monthly operations meeting.
15.00
I love food but don't often stop for lunch until about 3pm. Sushi is my favourite or else I'll eat one of our snacks. I have my big meal when I'm home later in the evening. Twice a week, I'll work the double/evening shifts and it's the evening time that can be the most fun.
We have a very happy team here. We advertise in the Australasian free magazine TNT and so attract a lot of staff from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. And because we also advertise for staff in The Stage, too, a lot of the staff are also actors.
All our servers are professionally trained singers and every 45 minutes in Yo! Below, one or several will stop serving and present a song, karaoke-style, except that it's to professional standard.
Yo! Below is the only place in the UK to have self-service beer taps (offering Kirin beer) with digital display units showing you how much you're spending. Each table also has sunken seating and smoke extractor ashtrays. Then there are the masseurs. These really help reinforce the laid-back atmosphere. They are separate from the waiting staff and wear white coats and special doctors' watches.
The women offer three types of massage and include kao (head), kubikapa (neck and shoulder) and te (aromatic hand massage). You request one when you arrive and they work their way around to you. It's done very professionally and there is always loads of take-up by both men and women. And I've certainly never seen any hassle.
The atmosphere here is not like a pub, it's very sophisticated. It's warm but modern.
