Outsiders on the inside
That Giorgio Locatelli has teamed up with contract caterer Aramark to open a restaurant in the Crowne Plaza hotel near Blackfriars Bridge, can only be good news for lovers of fine food, for London and for hotels in general. Why? Because Locatelli is, in my opinion, one of the best day-to-day chefs working in the capital at the moment; because it means another high-quality restaurant will open, so boosting London's culinary reputation; and because it proves that outsourcing is alive and kicking in the hotel business. This last point is the most important (sorry, Giorgio).
Ever since Gordon Ramsay took over the fine-dining restaurants of the Savoy Group, hotels have been ever eager to bring in outside celebs to head up their top restaurants. Actually, this makes it sound like a new idea when, really, it's been around for ages. The Grosvenor House hotel was served well for years by having Nico Ladenis's 90 Park Lane restaurant next door.
What's interesting isn't the idea of sublet restaurant space, but the growing willingness for hotels to outsource, not just their fine dining, but every function of the operation - from building maintenance to staff training, from reservations to housekeeping.
It's happening everywhere. Last autumn, Le M‚ridien outsourced management of its global IT infrastructure in a £27m deal with Equant; and five years ago Compass set up the Circadia cook-chill kitchen in south London to offer hotels pre-prepared banqueting meals.
This booming outsource phenomenon is being led by a breed of contract caterers who have the vision to say, "We do it in hospitals and schools, why not in hotels?" Indeed, why not? Hotels clearly have an appetite for it.
Outsourcing can mean a reduction in overheads, greater budgetary control, the off-loading of staffing problems and the opportunity to buy in expertise in areas where it might otherwise be difficult to maintain standards. The principle of bringing in the experts is a good one.
There are potential disadvantages, of course - that staff might not feel a sense of ownership; customer care might slip as local managers lose control over subcontractors; and it might lead to a lack of consistency, which could damage a brand. But if a proper dialogue is maintained between the client and the supplier and the standards of the hotel are fully understood, there's no reason why outsourcing can't work for all parties concerned - hotel, supplier and customer - and we will definitely see more and more of it in the future.
