The plus points of going north
Temptation, attraction, invitation, lure, pull, seduction or just plain come-on. Whatever you want to call it, if I am tempted with something, especially chocolate or a new contract, I usually say yes.
But in the decision to take on any new contract there has always been one discussion point: geographical location.
We have been approached on a number of occasions in the past regarding our intentions of going "up north", but declined politely.
However, when a client offers a big contract as a result of an excellent working relationship, it's not easy to say no thank you.
Heading North
So, in April we will be opening an all-day service catering for 1,000 people from two outlets.
We have been operating at this client's HQ in London for the past three years and we were approached to take on its new facility in Manchester.
It has been an interesting and enlightening project so far, with lots of pleasant surprises, mainly with the recruitment process.
It started with a conversation with the JobCentre when the various positions on offer were discussed.
Senior operations manager Caroline Fry was flabbergasted and delighted to learn of the going rate for vacancies on offer.
The conversation ended with the consultant at the JobCentre assuring us that she could not only fill our vacancies in Manchester but was prepared to bus applicants down south to fill our other vacancies as well. In fact, she was interested in the manager's position herself.
We decided to advertise all the positions as well, just to ensure that we had trawled all the possible applicants.
This again was a pleasant surprise at how cheap it was to do a boxed display advert - about the same as doing lineage down here - and then there was the response.
What a joy to have people applying who actually want to work and who are able to fill in the application forms and return them. My main conclusion so far is why didn't we do it sooner?
Company seminar
This month also saw the meeting of our unit managers for a seminar on the company's expectations for 1997. First on the agenda was a review of the success of 1996, followed by our projections for the next 12 months.
A couple of new faces were introduced to assist the managers in their jobs.
Our new training manager outlined the proposed programme for implementing the revised health and safety policies and how it will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
It ended with me pledging yet more incentives for the Catering Unit of the Year Award. The prize is, to be blunt, a dirty weekend away for two.
Now, if I was able to enter, my dream venue would have to be the Chocolate Suite at Alton Towers!
Next diary from Robyn Jones is on 6 March
