True casualties of the take-over wars
Another take-over bid. Another earthquake, causing the structure of the industry to tremble and crack!
Some may feel sorry for "the besieged" object of a hostile take-over and for the directors who worked so hard to build up a company. I feel sorry for the employees. There is too much buying and selling, not enough slow, steady building. While their bosses buy hotel and restaurant brands as part of elaborate schemes to expand empires - or sell parts to reduce them in order to maximise profit - the employees have to get on with the job of looking after customers.
Kitchen porters, chefs, chambermaids, housekeepers, receptionists, general managers: theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do or die. They are expected to carry on working according to a set of criteria laid down by the management that originally employed them. Meanwhile, they read allegations in the papers that the organisation for which they work has not been properly managed and that, without warning, they may expect to be working for another master, according to another set of criteria. Or that they may even be made redundant.
This industry is often described as a "people industry" because it relies on the friendliness and social skills of staff to make customers feel welcome and important.
A great deal is asked of its people. They have to work all hours of the day and night. And they cannot afford to make mistakes. Because they depend so much on their good humour and social skills, employers tend to flatter them, and speak of their dedication and pride in serving customers.
What sentimental piffle! People who work in hotels and restaurants do take pride in their job. Some are true craftsmen and craftswomen - perhaps the last to practise an old-fashioned art such as cooking or waiting at table. But they work to earn a living and not to be patronised by tycoons and accountants. They become attached to their places of work because they get used to the environment and come to understand how to get the best out of it. They may love serving customers even though some customers behave badly, but few will feel any love for their employers. Particularly when their place of work and their jobs are sold without any explanation other than the grim logic of commerce.
A people industry! A property industry is nearer the truth.
As I write this, newspaper business pages hiss and crackle with news of Granada's bid for Forte and Forte's hastily assembled defence. Both involve promises of rationalisation. What a chill word for those whose employment is liable to be rationalised; whose lives are likely to be shaken up.
It's fine for the City and for the institutions whose chief interest in hotels and restaurants is not food, drink and a comfortable night, but asset values and dividends. If we win, we'll sell Forte's motorway service stations to avoid a monopoly, says Granada. We'll sell our White Hart brand and our stake in the Savoy, says Forte - agreeing to do more or less what Granada indicated it would do if it were successful.
And the people who work so hard to get things right? Who do as they are told because they have no other choice? They are sold, too, clinging precariously to their livelihoods.
So what was all that fuss about Forte gaining control of the Savoy? All the passion and the rage? All the discomfort for management and staff? After all that, it now looks as though Savoy employees may have to come to terms with further changes in management.
You can argue that the commercial logic of take-overs creates efficiency. But you can also argue that good, stable management creates efficiency. And that the frequent disruption of staff undermines not just their efficiency but the flair and excitement that makes a great hotel or restaurant a treasured and successful institution. The crude changes in the name of rationalisation that follow take-overs are no substitute for good management.
Customers who are rightly possessive about their favourite hotels and restaurants must also dislike the shock of sudden, commerce-driven change just as much as staff. Do customers matter any more than staff? Only as abstractions. "Once we've got the deal out of the way," you hear the parties say, "we'll hand it over to the marketing and PR departments."
