Dogged success

January was a good month for Charlton House Catering Services. The firm saw its highest turnover and profit to date, thanks to the new contracts starting that month. At BIC Trust the client has agreed to a third member of staff being hired this month because of the huge increase in sales.

Commercial director Alison Robinson even overheard one customer asking if she could book a table for lunch, such is the popularity of the dining room, and managing director Robyn Jones is considering ordering further tables and chairs.

Similarly, turnover at St Benedict's Schools is ahead of the budget set by the previous caterer, Gardner Merchant. Robyn is delighted to have been recommended for a contract at another school by the client, which she sees as a real vote of confidence in the company.

From Easter she is instituting a plan to convert some of the packed-lunch eaters to purchasers of packed lunches prepared by Charlton House. "We're going to send a newsletter out to the parents outlining all the benefits: nutrition, convenience and, most of all, food safety," she says. "Mum won't have to prepare the sandwiches in the mornings and the meals will be stored in fridges until lunchtime instead of on top of a school radiator."

The client has also asked Charlton House to provide an afternoon tea service, to enable working parents to collect their children later from school. This can be done at a week's notice if necessary as the company already provides a tea and bun service for teachers at the end of the day.

Robyn is also waiting to hear whether she has gained a number of contracts, including one at a golf club and another to run a tea-room within a high street bakery.

She hopes to gain at least three more contracts between now and June in what is a busy time for appointments on the back of telesales leads. To help deal with the growing business, she has taken on a further member of staff based at the company headquarters, Bix Manor, near Henley-on-Thames. "I've always prided myself on having a high ratio of head office staff to the number of contracts, so it's now time to increase our numbers," she says.

Catrin Owen joined the company this week as assistant to operations manager Caroline Fry. She joins Charlton House from Sutcliffe Catering, where she is currently a relief manager and has been involved in quality assurance. Catrin has previously worked with Caroline and Alison, demonstrating the incestuous nature of contract catering. She will help Caroline oversee the day-to-day running of each unit, gradually taking on more work on her own.

Last month's Valentine's Day celebrations saw Charlton House chefs and catering managers exercise their imaginations with themed menus. Caterer visited Robyn at her Guide Dogs for the Blind contract at Burghfield Common, near Reading, in Berkshire. General manager Alan Barnett had used the slogan "Everybody Loves a Lover" as an excuse to serve such dishes as chicken Anthony & Cleopatra, Edward & Mrs Simpson pasta and Adam & Eve pudding.

Charlton House took on the Guide Dogs contract three years ago, when the association moved its headquarters to the converted manor house. Alan joined the company when the contract started, after 23 years with the RAF catering branch.

He oversees a contract which entails staff and hospitality catering, cleaning, running a bar and housekeeping services in the neighbouring 36-bedroom annexe for association members undergoing training.

Charlton House staff are given training on how to deal with visually impaired people, undergoing exercises which involve being led around blind-fold by a sighted person. They are also trained to deal with diabetic emergencies, since a high percentage of older people who go blind do so because of diabetes.

Most of the association's 100 staff are fully sighted, but there are many dogs on the site and staff are encouraged to bring their pets. Dealing with dogs demands special care, however. Within a few days of starting the contract Alan realised clean carpets and dogs do not mix easily. He now asks staff to bring in their old towels, and, by every entrance, are two bins - one for clean towels, the other for dirty.

Alan has to be careful about which carpet cleaning materials are used, avoiding dry powders, which can irritate the dogs' eyes. Once a year, deep carpet cleaning is carried out by an outside company, and Charlton House staff vacuum repeatedly to get rid of any remaining chemicals.

Charlton House staff must be aware of the dogs in other areas of work as well. Association trainees can bring their dogs to the accommodation centre, leaving them in their rooms for part of the day. "Cleaners knock on the door, as they would in any hotel, but if the answer's a bark they keep out - the dogs can be very protective of their owners' space," says Alan.

And staff have to resist the temptation to pet guide dogs wearing a harness - that signifies they are working and should not be distracted without the owner's permission.

With all these dogs around the building, you would expect to hear a cacophony of barks and howls. But discipline among the animals is only occasionally a problem, although today one exasperated member of staff has lost patience. Posted to an office door is a note which reads: "Muffet is tied up behind my desk in an effort to teach her some manners. Please ignore her."

Adopted businesses

Caterer & Hotelkeeper has "adopted" a cross-section of independent hospitality businesses, which are regularly featured in these pages. All of the Adopted Businesses appear once every four weeks.

The Adopted Businesses are: Hotel du Vin & Bistro, Winchester; Spaggo's, Slough; Westminster Meals Service, London; No 6, Stratford-upon-Avon; Charlton House Catering Services, Henley-on-Thames; Well House Hotel, St Keyne, Cornwall; and the Rising Sun, Donhead St Mary, Wiltshire.

The year got off to a good start for Charlton House, with turnover at the new BIC Trust contract double the anticipated budget. An administrator has been taken on at head office, and other contracts at Action for Blind People, the two St Benedict's Schools and the London Stock Exchange have been settling down since their start at the beginning of the New Year.