Elaine Clarke – Baa Bar, Liverpool

Elaine Clarke - Baa Bar, Liverpool

"Elaine is a dedicated and professional businesswoman who, though visionary marketing, adept financial control and highly developed personnel skills, has achieved unparalleled success." That's nominator Tom Bloxham's opinion of the 2000 Manager of the Year, Elaine Clarke.

Clarke is the managing director of Baa Bar, a Liverpool-based independent licensed retail operation which, according to Bloxham, has achieved astounding success under her management.

As a founder member of the company in 1991, Clarke took over the everyday management of the company's first outlet, Baa Bar, which operated out of a warehouse in a run-down corner of what is now the Rope Walks development area.

Clarke left school at 16 and went on to work in some of the city's most popular bars and restaurants, quickly being rewarded with management positions in return for her hard work and aptitude.

When she was approached to join Baa Bar, Clarke was the general manager and director of the Café Tabac in Liverpool city centre, had amassed seven years' full-time experience in the industry - and was still just 23 years old.

When considering the nominees for this award, the judges are looking for proven success in managing and developing a team in the workplace, a good financial record, and proof of dedication over and above the job description, particularly in the past year.

And Clarke scored in all of these criteria. Her personnel skills, in particular, were praised by judge Neal Martin. "She has a very high degree of staff management skills in her bar," he said. "It's obvious a lot of work has gone into her staff."

During 1999 Clarke introduced the Baa 2000 project with the aim of developing a fully integrated human resource policy for the business, forming clear management hierarchies, implementing training plans for all employees and attaining Investors in People. "This initiative is proving to be a tremendous success," says Bloxham. "Management and staff morale has never been higher within the organisation and considerable gains in productivity and quality have been achieved through the clear definition of roles and the setting of attainable and rewarding goals for full-time staff."

Clarke's financial record is just as impressive, especially this year. Having suffered falling sales through 1998, Baa Bar broke all records for turnover in 1999, achieving a 25% increase in sales against the previous year and a 14% increase against the previous record year in 1997. Total turnover easily broke the £3m barrier for the first time.

Showing worth over and above the job description is a much more difficult thing to assess. However, the judges praised Clarke's commitment to her staff (all of her current management team started behind the company's bars) and her work for charity, mainly with Aids groups, has helped raise several thousands pounds.

Clarke has also actively marketed the Baa Bar and has gained an enormous amount of both local and national press and publicity. The Express called it "one of the hippest places in Britain" and no less an authority than The Face declared: "The bar is a gift from the gods."

"She has a very high degree of staff management skills in her bar. It's obvious a lot of work has gone into her staff", Neal Martin

Judges

David Coubrough, chief executive, Prime People

Sue Harrison, director of catering services, House of Commons

Zoë Jenkins, food and beverage manager, the Dorchester

Neal Martin, director of hotel services and entertainment, P&O Cruises

Declan Swan, chief executive, Hospitality Training Foundation

Sponsored by the Dudson Group