Street life
THE £200m British Airways Waterside complex at London's Heathrow Airport was heralded as a revolutionary workplace when it opened in July. There are no set workstations, and employees are encouraged to mix and hold informal meetings with colleagues in the catering outlets that spill out into a central glass-topped atrium.
This meant the pressure was on for Sutcliffe, which manages the catering at the building as an extension of its main contract with BA. Geoff Wilson, general manager responsible for all Sutcliffe BA contracts, describes it as like running a staff dining room, bar and café in a village street.
"BA wanted to create a bustling, friendly atmosphere with people coming and going all day," he says. "They intended it to be the hub of the building, and it's succeeded."
shallow stream
Known as The Street, the atrium, linking six main office blocks, has trees, shops and cafés with tables positioned only feet from a shallow stream which bubbles from one end to the other. The effect is of dappled light, chatter, the smell of fresh coffee and flowers from a florist's stall. With temperatures adjusted to reflect those outside, only the security checks remind visitors that this is not a public thoroughfare.
The site is unique to Sutcliffe, which has a three-year cost-plus contract with management fee and performance guarantees. The subsidy is in excess of £450,000 and any gross profit on food is returned to BA to offset overheads. Turnover is predicted to be £1.2m.
The catering team has been on site since early December last year, when the first of the 2,800 employees started to arrive. The site is now fully staffed, and Prince Charles officially opened the building on 20 July. Sutcliffe worked with the architect, Niels Torp, in the planning of the catering areas from an early stage, but has made no financial investment in the site.
Breaking down barriers
The remit to blur territories and encourage employees to hold impromptu meetings in a semi-Continental setting has come from the top. BA's chief executive, Bob Ayling, also works in an open-plan office. There is a choice of 200 meeting rooms, but these can be booked for only a limited time. The belief is that breaking down barriers will benefit the business.
The basis for this office revolution is the £10m spent on technological advances that allow personnel to move from desk to desk. They can even take their work to lunch: tucked in a quiet corner of the Pavement Café is the Cyber Café, where tables have terminals for customers wanting to grab a coffee while they surf the Internet.
Making the most of technology, employees regularly e-mail Caroline Watson, general catering manager, to comment on the catering, book tables, order food and choose items from the hospitality menu.
"The demand for hospitality is far greater than we anticipated and, without e-mail, we'd need someone working on this side full-time," says Watson.
Through the cashless swipe-card system, Watson is also able to check what customers buy, from where and at what time.
Catering incorporates the Pavement Café, Espresso Bar, Lakeside Gallery, main restaurant and hospitality service. Tables and chairs for the 120-seat Pavement Café, halfway along The Street, are scattered on graded levels to achieve an uneven, intimate feel, and make it the most popular outlet, serving more than 1,000 customers per day with an average spend of £1.75. It is open 8am-3.30pm, providing cappuccino, espresso, made-to-order fresh baguettes, sandwiches and hot dishes such as tuna melt and bacon rolls.
Also on The Street, the Espresso Bar serves 550 people daily with an average spend of £1.35, and offers a similar menu to the Pavement Café but majoring on "Fast Track" pre-prepared snacks, introduced recently for customers in a hurry. It is open 8am-5.30pm and continues the informal feel, with tables and chairs clustered round trees and plants. Food here is prepared in the Pavement Café kitchen, which also supplies the hospitality requirements.
Overlooking two large man-made lakes is the Lakeside Gallery, a 50-seat, waitress-service restaurant offering a more upmarket à la carte menu. Almost a victim of its own success, there is a two-week waiting list for bookings. Dishes include Mediterranean sea gem chowder at £2 and charred rib eye of Scottish beef at £7.95. Average spend is £12.95.
The main dining room, open for breakfast and lunch, seats 700 and attracts 1,600 customers a day, with an average spend at lunchtime of £2.60. It is divided into five or six areas, using different furnishings and colours, to create a more intimate feel. On warm days, customers can eat outside on The Deck, overlooking the lakes.
Executive chef Andrew Wright and his brigade design menus on a six-weekly rota, using fresh and home-made ingredients including pasta. The curved beechwood and stainless steel serveries are divided into several offers, the most popular being the Chef's Theatre, where dishes such as stir-fry pepper beef or cràpes, priced £1.75, are prepared in front of customers.
"We encourage chefs to be front of house, interacting with customers and talking about the food," says Wilson. He has arranged a series of visits from celebrity chefs, starting with Anton Mosimann, who will prepare his own dishes in the kitchen with Sutcliffe chefs and serve them front of house.
All catering outlets use a cashless system that helps avoid queuing - at peak times in the restaurant, 146 customers are served in 10 minutes. The site also has three food vending machines, for staff working out of hours, plus 60 beverage machines which are not operated by Sutcliffe.
Wilson and Watson admit that getting the contract up and running has been hard work but worthwhile. "BA are very demanding and want value for money, but we know where we stand with them," says Wilson. "They are a service organisation themselves, so we have the same philosophy."
He and Watson meet weekly and monthly with their client, Ruth Collins, regional catering manager for BA, when the issues discussed range "from the price of a KitKat at 27p to new projects worth £27,000." n
