Foodservice Cateys 2016: Front of House Team of the Year – Private Site

The dedicated front of house team is driven by the belief that great food, service and marketing will grow patronage and cash sales. This it has consistently achieved in Bristol at the Glassworks staff dining restaurant and barista café, as well as across vending, reception and client hospitality and events across 42 meeting and seminar rooms.

Turnover has been further increased by around £18,000 per year by identifying and setting up a new hospitality service for two companies adjacent to Burges Salmon's main office, with the added bonus of reducing the client's costs by £9,000 through profit on re-billing.

Staff at Burges Salmon are continually inspired to try something new through ad hoc theme days, be they Australian, Wild West or back to the 1980s, and pop-up bars selling the likes of pulled pork, hot sandwiches and Peruvian cuisine. A Christmas lunch served in April was sold out, with 120 participants getting into the out-of-season festive spirit.

While a new and improved soup station and salad bar has boosted food options for the clients, behind the scenes, an analysis of trends and transactional data using the cashless system is continually targeting improvements. And as one of the first sites to set up a Twitter account, the BaxterStorey team is in touch with the 650 Burges Salmon employees on an ongoing basis.

The judges were particularly impressed with the team's efforts in looking for opportunities to add value to both its own and its client's business. For instance, it organised a charity dinner, involving first- and second-year trainee solicitors, which raised more than £7,000 for Great Western Air, Burges Salmon's chosen charity of the year.

Other efforts include hiring temporary air-conditioning units when Burges Salmon's plant and chiller unit broke down, just as the company was about to entertain a new client.

Additional services offered by BaxterStorey include the management of all meeting and seminar rooms, following on from the client's dissatisfaction with the poor standards provided by a number of other providers.

The fact that Jamie Stevenson, who oversees the catering at Burges Salmon in Bristol, was named Catering Manager of the Year at the Foodservice Cateys in 2014, confirms that the consistently high performance of BaxterStorey's front of house team at the law firm is an ongoing process.

What the judge said

"The BaxterStorey front of house team working at Burges Salmon is an outstanding and spirited winner of this award. It has undoubtedly contributed to the overall success and consistent performance of the business."

Wendy Bartlett, Bartlett Mitchell

Shortlisted

• BaxterStorey at Burges Salmon
• Beales Gourmet
• Rapport at Deloitte
• Chester Boyd (CH&Co) at Mansion House

Past winners

(This award was split into two categories this year to reflect advancement of private and public sites)

• 2015 BaxterStorey at Clyde & Co
• 2014 Rapport at Tower 42
• 2013 Rapport at KPMG