Taking care of the team
The Ronsons are one couple among that lucky band of hoteliers who read about staff turnover - but don't experience it. In the three-and-a-half years since the family took on the hotel, they have lost only two members of their team - one chef and one general assistant.
Daniel and Jill have refreshingly enlightened views about their staff. Conversations about staffing are definitely not of the "them and us" type. They admit that a lot of the plans they have made during their tenure have been to suit themselves and their staff. Decisions to end bar meal service at precisely 9.30pm, to stop late drinking and to refuse Saturday wedding bookings, have all stemmed from a keen sense of staff retention.
"We are realistic enough to recognise that we are in a small rural area - it is very difficult to find the right staff - and when we do we hang on to them," says Jill.
"The team works very hard while they are here, and everyone likes to know what to expect when it comes to working hours. We don't operate a split shift system unless we are really pushed."
"The fact that this is our first hotel means we haven't got into bad habits," says Daniel. "We realise that everyone has their own life outside the hotel, so we make sure they have two consecutive days off and four weeks' holiday."
Rewarding people in the job is an important aspect of their approach. "If we can keep our recruitment and training costs to a minimum, it leaves more money in the pot to pay better wages to our existing staff - and we are the best payers for basic staff in the area," says Daniel.
Chef John McAneney, fondly described by Daniel as "a lousy delegator and very hot on cost control", is one of the strengths of the Nant Ddu team. He returned to the hotel after working there four years ago, and came back "out of curiosity" in March 1994. A man of few words, he obviously liked the changes he saw. He gives the impression that he is quite proud of challenging local palates - and winning! Grilled tuna marinated in soy and ginger sauce with guacamole garnish, and guinea fowl in red wine are two of his contributions to the highly innovative bar menu.
A chef for 32 years, John lives 35 minutes away, in Cardiff. His official shift is 12.30 - 10.30pm, five days a week, but he is no clock watcher. He sees himself as a good cook rather than a chef: "I am behind the stove every time, I couldn't drive a desk," he says.
Fresh ingredients, usually ordered daily, are a prerequisite for his cooking. Sometimes a customer turns up with surplus beans, carrots or potatoes from their garden.
And his ambition? "I would love to go for a red M here, but first we have to get consistency. And we must carry the customers with us, I wouldn't do it just for my own ego."
Clare Green is 22 and commutes from Blackwood, Gwent, 25 miles away. A former student of Cardiff Institute of Higher education, she has an HND in Hotel, Catering and Institutional management. The advert placed by the Ronsons in Caterer appealed because of its "hands on" requirements, she started at the hotel as restaurant manager and general assistant on St Valentine's day. She now works from 3pm until midnight, five days a week, with Sunday and Monday off.
"I wanted experience, so I am keen to have a go at anything," she says. "I am lucky, to a large extent I am given a lot of freedom here."
Clare has found her niche in front of house, and now has day-to-day control of the restaurant. Her future projects will be technology-based. As the only computer-literate member of staff, she hopes to be able to set up a guest database and introduce up-to-date information packs into the rooms.
Ray Morgan, as Welsh as his surname suggests, is the hotel's longest serving staff member - he has been there for 13 years. His physical achievements are well known. In the summer he takes two days to mow the hotel's two acres of lawn, pacing relentlessly behind a smallish petrol mower, disdaining larger mowers on which he could sit as he mows.
He has a detailed knowledge of the building's structure, and is regularly called upon to act as an electrician, plumber or general handyman. He works from 8am until 4pm, Monday to Friday, and enjoys most elements of his work, with the possible exception of cash and carry trips.
Sheila Owen has always worked in hotels. A grandmother three times over, Jill wryly observes that her energy levels are higher than average.
Her day starts at 7am when she opens up, deals with breakfast and checks out guests. "I get through most departments, and I really enjoy the variety," she says. She is also a familiar face to all the hotel's regulars - "if they don't turn up I worry, particularly if they are elderly". "And they do the same if they don't see Sheila around," observes Jill.
