Letters
Exploitation is not just about race
I AM annoyed and saddened by your article, "Ethnic minorities still face racism in catering sector" (Caterer, 8 October, page 4).
Having been in the industry for manyyears, I was under the impression that, as a whole, everybody from kitchen porters in hotel kitchens to managing directors of multinational equipment suppliers - regardless of race, colour or sex - was classed as a commodity to be exploited to achieve maximum productivity, for the least amount of pay.
It is not just our industry, it is found in every aspect of commerce, because that is business.
Race and sex discrimination are not growing problems - they have always been major problems and they have to be addressed. But they have to be addressed for the right reasons from all sides.
Anybody, or any organisation, can point white, Asian or Afro-Caribbean finger at any aspect of any industry and say that discrimination is rife, but to come up with fair and ethical solutions that will suit all concerned is a much taller order.
Nick Brandrick
Director, Catercall Catering Services,
Birmingham.
a smokescreen for prejudice
THE findings of the World Health Organisation's (WHO's) research into the alleged risk to non-smokers of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, confirm what a wide range of reputable individuals and organisations have long maintained - that it in no way constitutes the threat that the anti-smoker industry would have us all believe.
The WHO study, involving 12 centres across seven European countries, states that there is "no relationship between childhood exposure to second-hand smoke at home and lung cancer", and found a "statistically non-significant positive association" for spousal and workplace exposure, a result which could easily have been produced by random chance.
Now even anti-smokers in the UK are accepting that their claims are, at best, exaggerated out of all proportion, or, at worst, deliberately misleading and scaremongerist. The director of the anti-smoker "charity" ASH was quoted in response to the WHO's findings, saying: "We are not saying that if you are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke you are going to fall down dead. If you are a non-smoker, you are not that likely to get lung cancer."
Now that "passive smoking" is confirmed as a hoax, perhaps the debate over adult smoking will concern itself more with the practical ways in which smokers can be accommodated and the fears of non-smokers quelled.
Martin Ball
Information officer,
FOREST,
London SW1E.
Seeking new rules on conferences
I WISH to seek the views of hoteliers and conference buyers on the idea of a new set of "rules" or understandings for the exclusive use of venues for meetings and incentives.
Taking over a property in its entirety is a growing trend. Event planners like the privacy and security it brings, and hoteliers are glad that conferences will not irritate any additional guests who might have been staying.
A good starting point is that the venue should ask for a guaranteed income equivalent to that which it would expect at the time under normal trading circumstances. While small venues are most commonly used, there are occasions when hundreds of participants are involved, and advance booking is essential, often for off-peak periods. But not all venues will co-operate and, worse, many change their minds once the decision is referred to head office.
The problem, I believe, is that the concept of exclusive use is not sufficiently well understood or valued. A new consensus on this topic is overdue.
David Campbell
Managing director,
Banks Sadler,
London NW1.
All the work is behind the scenes
THE issue of skills shortage has been debated time and time again over the past two years, and yet we seem to have made little progress.
After all the talk, this situation would be depressing were it not for a silver lining on the dark cloud - the work of Springboard UK.
It has been stated by some that there has been much hype about Springboard UK but little action. The reality is that, behind the scenes, there has been much work done that will begin to have an effect in future years.
In her first year as director, Dr Ann Walker has laid some firm foundation stones for the future, and it is important that the industry supports the work of Springboard UK as it will only serve to benefit us all.
I have heard the argument that companies are perhaps reluctant to support such a cause financially, given the concerns over the economy, but the simple truth is that we desperately need to invest in portraying the industry in a good light as an employer if we are to solve the real problems. Without investment today, we will all lose financially in the long run.
Believe me, this is not simple idealism but the simple fact. Just ask human resources managers - they are facing the plain truth every day as they struggle to recruit calibre employees.
Chris Sheppardson
Managing director,
Chess Partnership.
Here's the deal on fire warnings
WITH reference to the letter from John Jenkinson, "Shout fire in several languages" (Caterer, 1 October, page 22),I would like to clarify what the RAC/AA/ETB Quality Standards require.
The full requirement is for "multilingual emergency procedure notices or use of symbols/diagrams". Many hotels already operate this procedure and the standards have been drawn up to reflect this good practice.
In interpretation of this requirement, our advice to hoteliers is to display in each room a diagram/plan that shows the room in relation to the escape route. By this method, hoteliers can ensure that all their guests, not only the English-speaking ones, have the information to facilitate an escape in the event of fire, without the need for further details.
Many hotels choose not only to display the diagrams but also to provide details on emergency procedures, in languages relevant to their main clientele, in their room information folders.
Linda Astbury FHCIMA
RAC/AA/ETB Joint Management Committee,
London W6.
AAanomaly makes us see red
WE RECENTLY had a very helpful AA inspector (food) stay overnight and give our restaurant-with-rooms a once-over. He was impressed, adding that, if we were successful in our licence application, provided a turn-down service and put radios and bathrobes in the bedrooms, we would then qualify as a hotel with one star, very probably red.
Thus, we are forced to accept the definition for a hotel must be "licensed accommodation provider with radios and bathrobes in its bedrooms" (we believe that turning down the duvets was needed to turn the star red).
The AA's position is simply indefensible and does not reflect current developments in the industry. The differences between hotel, guesthouse, B&B, lodge, inn, restaurant-with-rooms, etc, are growing increasingly blurred. There is no one feature that is unique to the AA's definition of a hotel, the vast range of facilities that are offered in "other accommodation" encompasses all that hotels offer, yet the AA is quite happy that they can be graded with a 1-5 quality-only system.
Mr Hampson's claim (Caterer, 8 October, page 20) that the AA scheme standardises things and makes it less confusing for the consumer would be true only if all consumers stayed only in either hotels or "other accommodation". The reality is, of course, that most travellers stay in all sorts of accommodation - one time in a hotel, then a guesthouse, and so on.
Under the AA system, such people, rather than being less confused, would have to cope with two very different systems - one that copies the STB, quality-led, 1-5 grading; the other, facility-led stars.
Why persist with this illogical, anomalous and confusing dual system? It is tempting to conclude that the AA is constrained by its desire to keep its main customer happy (and I refer here to not the hotel guest but the hotel proprietor).
Bill Barber
Old Pines Restaurant With Rooms,
Spean Bridge,
by Fort William.
Café challenge for Egon Ronay
SURELY most people will welcome John Prescott's initiative in announcing help to improve the lot of Britain's roadside cafés. Certainly Egon Ronay's brave move to produce a comprehensive guide based on assessment by a team of experienced inspectors (rather than the price paid by the cafés!) should be a winner with all road users.
We at the Midway Truckstop boast of serving "real food", and our steak-and-kidney pie dinners are acclaimed by many as the best they have ever tasted. We therefore challenge Mr Ronay to appoint any chef of his choice to cook a better steak-and-kidney pie (without using any MSG, TPP or nasty chemical E-number materials) than our Audrey can.
If any associate of Mr Ronay happens to see this letter, perhaps he will get in touch to establish the ground rules.
Patrick Calcutt and family
The Famous Midway Truckstop,
Whitchurch, Shropshire.
