Offices angels
THE Goodfellows team has been through some of its most challenging weeks yet in the run-up to taking over the Government Offices for London (GOL) catering contract.
The six-month rolling contract to run the staff Waterfront restaurant and function catering for around 450 employees in the Millbank building should turn over £200,000 and earn Goodfellows around £15,000 a year. It's the company's first business and industry contract and a prestigious one that Goodfellows will use to show prospective clients.
"It's been frantic," says managing director Norman Deas. "Philippa [Forde, operations director] has been here for the past month and I've been running her patch. Being a small company, we've had to do everything ourselves."
Quadrant, the previous contractor, worked until 4pm on the Friday before handing over the keys. Deas, Forde and finance director David Johnson all came down to blitz-clean the kitchen and restaurant over the weekend, as did all members of staff.
"Their help has been tremendous," says Deas. "Normally, staff are apprehensive or even cynical about a new contractor, but we've had none of that and I'm amazed. By Monday, they were all really excited."
The early weeks have not been without problems, though. Winston Kobylka, the GOL contracts manager, is "very, very pernickety" says Deas. "On the first Monday morning, we were all here at the crack of dawn. Winston walked in and put his hand on top of the vending machine and there was some dust. Still, it was the only thing he could find wrong."
They faced more difficulties from the new till. "We'd sent out questionnaires about the catering and offered a 50% discount on meals for any returned within a week," says Deas. "We also offered a 20% discount for the first week, but we couldn't programme the till, so the cashier was not only having to learn new prices, but work out the discount too. We grabbed a till from another unit and put up signs apologising to customers."
Kobylka complimented Goodfellows on its handling of the problem - "and he's not a man who gives compliments easily", says Deas. Compliments also came at the accommodation meeting, the first chance for Goodfellows to hear how it was doing. "A few things came up - the range of confectionery is different and there was 2p on the sandwiches - but generally it went well," says Deas.
Staffing is a constant worry, though. There are nine full-time positions across kitchen and front of house, headed by catering manager Elizabeth Gillett, who joined the team from Granada Retail. But there are vacancies for two chefs, a cashier, and a kitchen assistant. Agency staff fill the gaps, but Forde accepts that they will only ever achieve 85% of the full-time staff requirement. Hilary Greaves, catering manager at St Patrick's school in Walthamstow, has been seconded from her job to project-manage the GOL contract, in recognition of the smooth running of St Patrick's catering operation.
Roles are being redefined, too. Head chef Steve Bailey has been given management responsibilities that include ordering, pre-service checks, stores and staff organisation, and he thrives on it. "Head chef is a key role and has to have managerial responsibilities as well as cooking," says Forde.
The kitchen provides breakfast for up to 40 people and lunch for up to 120, between 8.30am and 3.30pm, five days a week. Menus, on a four-week cycle, always include two main dishes (£1.65-£2.75), one vegetarian (£1.65-£1.70) and one value meal (£1.25). A home-made soup (26p) is listed daily, vegetable portions are 40p and hot puddings 50p.
Theme days are held once a month and are always popular. The team is also in charge of function catering, which can be anything from sandwiches to a fork or finger buffet.
Most of the changes are in the detail. There are fresh flowers on every table, for instance, and one member of staff has the job of constantly checking cleanliness of the serving area. Gillett eats lunch with customers once a week to gauge reactions, and the restaurant will be promoted to staff via e-mail.
Once the initial settling-in phase is over, the Goodfellows management team will draw back and leave Gillett in charge. "It will fall into the normal pattern of supervision and development, but I'll be here at key times at least once a week," says Forde.
There's been plenty of other business to focus minds over the past six weeks, too. Among the schools, Templars in Witham, Essex, continues to be a problem despite a new headmistress and positive reactions to the food. "It's not making money for us," says Deas. "We've tried to have two meetings to air our concerns but both have been cancelled."
Business at Hendon school, on the other hand, has been extremely buoyant following the decision to forbid year 11s (16-year-olds) from leaving the premises during school hours for disciplinary reasons. Goodfellows' income has risen by 25-30% as a result.
At Selhurst high school, near Croydon, the head has sanctioned major changes. Crisps and canned drinks are off the menu and "main meal deals" where pupils get a proper meal for a set price of £1.30 have been introduced with great success, says Deas.
The national group of care homes for which Goodfellows does the purchasing is bringing on board another 11 homes early next year, following a contract win in Surrey. It means turnover in the care home business will increase by £250,000 and Deas anticipates taking on a clerk to deal with this business next year.
Other new business could be round the corner. Goodfellows is on the tender list for three schools, three business and industry contracts and the Hertfordshire police force contract. All are due to start early in 2001 and Deas foresees a need for expansion at head office if any of the tenders are successful.
Changes are possible at supplier level, too, as Deas has just put his own supply contracts out to tender for 2001. "The frozen food side is getting very competitive and we could see some changes there. In dry goods, you've got 3663 and Brakes buying up people and vying for business like fury. Our terms with Brakes have improved dramatically in the past six months and prices will get keener."
With a combination of better pricing from suppliers, higher income from existing contracts and the possibility of new business, things are going well. The heavier trading period starts now, which means the company is on track to exceed its budgeted turnover by £200,000 to hit £2.4m come year end in April 2001.
Next visit to Goodfellows: 14 December
