Letters
Customers don't come back after £5 lunches
This time of year regularly sees restaurant promotions organised by various national newspapers. Apart from raising their own sales, the aim is to fill empty tables at selected times, while providing an opportunity for diners to sample leading restaurants' fare at reduced rates with a view to them returning at a later date and paying normal prices.
My own experience of these promotions is entirely negative. In my view, bargain seekers are often inconsistent with regular clientele and mostly never make a return visit. Some clearly do not read the terms of the promotion, and others obviously do not understand them. I had one couple who booked, came along and enjoyed lunch, then placed their vouchers on the counter, thanked us, and left without paying their £5s.
Some misread the menus. One lady, after consuming her two courses for £5, asked to see the dessert menu. At the time the menu declared, "All desserts are £4.50." The said lady then demanded all the desserts.
There are those who have no idea of the cost of ingredients. It is possible to produce a £5 menu at a small profit, using the chef's skill and careful purchasing. But menus will often have to feature soups, fish cakes and dishes such as jambonneau of chicken. "Why is there no steak on the menu?" or "I adore Dover sole - do you have any?" they ask. It is hard not to smile.
I was taught that quality should supersede quantity - a motto that I wholeheartedly endorse - and I will not take part in these promotions even if they do work for others. I would rather serve 20 appreciative customers at my normal prices than 60 "once-a-year" punters at £5 for the same turnover.
TERRY FARR, Chef-Patron, Friends Restaurant, Pinner, Middlesex.
Client antics can harden a recruitment agent's heart
Those of us in the recruitment business felt very sad for Penny Smith at the Tollgate Inn & Restaurant, who seems to have had the rough end of someone in our business (Caterer, 25 January, page 16). I felt so ashamed I actually called her to express my feelings. What I did not say is how we can be pushed into taking a hard-nosed approach as a result of antics by clients to avoid payment.
They will tell us that the candidate "was not suitable" (ie, they have made a deal not to tell the recruitment agency that they have accepted the job); that the candidate "did not show" (but has actually started work); or that they were "introduced from another source". Other scenarios include: "I only wanted them while I took a holiday," and "Reduce the fee or the candidate will be dismissed."
You may wonder why we keep doing it. Well, we love the thrill of finding someone the right job. Perhaps we should do it just for that reason alone, and not for money.
CHRIS CHAPMAN, Chief Executive, Catering Recruitment and Consultancy, Honiton, Devon.
Votes in the House lead to Government support
The battle for more Government support will not be won by Guy Hands in a lecture at the Savoy (Caterer, 8 February, page 22). The problem is not that we have a bad case; it is that, as an industry, we are politically inept and always have been.
Many constituencies where manufacturing industry is located have members of parliament who are cabinet ministers. Those industries have powerful trade union members tiptoeing through the corridors of power. And the people who work in manufacturing run the local councils.
What our industry has is more than 70 constituencies whose economies - employment, rates and infrastructure - depend, to a major extent, on holiday-makers and tourists. Those 70 MPs have never worked as a group and have never been brought together to work as a group. Their selection as MPs is not controlled by the hospitality industry.
Mr Hands is just the latest novice to believe that logic and common sense will win the day. But politics is about votes, and we have no system of withholding them from MPs who don't act in our interests. Until we take this problem seriously, a cheap laugh at the Savoy is the most we'll ever achieve.
DEREK TAYLOR, London N2.
Take the tax breaks now - before they disappear
In the article "Climate change levy pushes up fuel bills" (Caterer, 14 December, page 4) the Government's assertion was repeated that this additional 15% energy bill is not a "tax" but a revenue-neutral "levy".
Beware of Government pre-election spin. Not only will hoteliers not qualify for the relief offered to "energy-intensive" firms but, when the National Insurance reduction of 0.5% is set against the background of a 2.2% increase the previous year, the £1.7b "levy" doesn't seem so revenue-neutral any more.
But there are carrots - combined heat and power (CHP) and 100% capital allowances being the most significant on offer. CHP is the only way hoteliers can avoid the tax completely, and Forte, Hilton and Whitbread have already spent millions to save millions.
Everyone should consider taking advantage of these tax breaks now, for the tax will remain long after the "breaks" have gone. At the very least, hoteliers should start thinking about how they are going to fill in all those little holes in their ceilings where there used to be low-voltage (high energy tax) halogen lights.
Martin Cartwright, Chartered Surveyor Hotelworks, By e-mail.
