Bradley Davis
Name: Bradley Davis
Age: 35
Job title: Head concierge (Davis won the Expedia.com Concierge of the Year Award 2002 - see Caterer, 27 June)
Location: The Connaught Hotel, Carlos Place, London
What was your first job in hospitality?
At 16, I started as hall porter at London's Dukes Hotel. It meant that I was luggage porter, page boy, errand boy - everything. It's where I learnt my trade under head concierge Tom Broadbent, a great man. I stayed there for five years.
How did you get from there to your current job? After that, I went travelling in the USA for three months before working back in London at Le Meridien Hotel on Piccadilly, where I worked on the concierge desk and helped out with luggage. In 1989, I got the job of assistant head concierge at the newly opened Hampshire Hotel in London's Leicester Square. I stayed there until 1993, then moved to the Connaught.
What are your main responsibilities? I'm in charge of a dozen staff members, including the concierges, the doormen, page boy and those manning the desk during the night. My biggest job is to book cars for guests, but I also sort out restaurant and theatre bookings and, in fact, anything and everything. It might involve simple directions, or it could mean going out to do someone's shopping for them.
What do you most enjoy about your job? The fact that there is so much variety every day and that each day is different. There are always new guests to meet and it's really fun meeting all these famous people. As part of the job, we get a lot of invitations to new restaurants or new shows at the theatre, so that we can in turn tell the guests about them. I love that side of things. If it's the theatre, I'll go with my wife. But for the restaurants, we often go as a group of concierges.
What do you most dislike about your job? The long hours are the biggest drawback. It can be very difficult to get away on time, and there can be a feeling of always fighting the clock. It can be quite tricky because this job means that I am on show, and a guest might catch me on my way out. And I can't say: ‘Sorry, I'm on my way home.' But the request might take two seconds or it could last half an hour.
What attributes do you need to be a head concierge?
Patience, discretion, knowledge, and to be good with customer care. You have to know what makes people tick, you have to be able to read body language, pick up on a tone of voice, and you have to know how to deal with staff. In my case, I have to know that the desk runs as smoothly when I'm not around as when I am there.
What's your next move?
Hypothetically, I could see myself as head concierge at a larger, more high-profile London hotel.
What's your ultimate career goal?
Probably working as a concierge at a big hotel in the Far East or the USA. I don't know if that will ever happen, but I dream about it.
