Foodservice Cateys 2022: Front of House Team of the Year – Green & Fortune
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This year's Front of House Team of the Year Catey goes to the team at Green & Fortune, which operates within four London venues.
Green & Fortune has proven to be particularly resilient over the pandemic. Despite losing half its workforce, which meant that the team had shrunk from 214 to 103 by April 2021, it managed to reopen and manage the sites at Kings Place in King's Cross and Sea Containers on the South Bank, relaunch Central Hall Westminster and mobilise its new site, Rose Court on the South Bank.
The team were unfazed by the staff shortages; every full-time member of staff went back to the floor during the reopening of Rotunda restaurant in April 2021, with general managers running sections, executive chefs on the larder and marketing and sales on reservations. Rotunda generated £1.5m in revenues between April and September last year, which is 60% on like-for like -sales in 2019. In fact, the restaurant sold the same number of cocktails in a week of summer 2021 as were sold in a month in 2019, and record daily covers reached 907.
Green & Fortune also accelerated the return to conferences and events in September 2021 by taking extra care to communicate safety precautions with clients. This involved providing service with minimised touch points, safe-catering menus featuring individually packed lunches, and enhanced cleaning and staff training. The group offered virtual tours for potential clients who could not make the physical journey to its venues, securing more than £350,000 in contracts this way.
Green & Fortune adapted quickly to the post-pandemic workplace, successfully encouraging people to return to the office via targeted offers on Mondays and Fridays, as well as making the most of food and beverage to entice people to attend a 500-person Learning Day.
As well as proving its front of house credentials, Green & Fortune has gone above and beyond in welcoming the younger generation to the hospitality industry through charitable initiatives. Highlights included taking on eight employees under the government's Kickstart programme, three of whom are still employed at Green & Fortune today, as well as the St Patrick's Day lunch, which raised £32,785 for the Clink and the London Irish Centre from 190 guests.
The London Irish Centre and Copenhagen Street Foodbank continue to receive 100 meals a week from Green & Fortune. What was originally intended as a way to support local residents during lockdown has grown into a long-term charitable commitment, which goes to show the lasting impact of Green & Fortune's creativity and determination which has flourished since the pandemic.
What the judges said
"What a great team! The back to the floor approach from everyone really stood out and the judges felt a real sense of purpose and a strong team culture. Delivering amazing results in what has been a really tough year, this team deserve to be recognised – an outstanding entry!" Jo Harley
"The entry really made the team come to life. We actually felt true spirit and culture which brought it all to life for us all." Deborah Homshaw
The shortlist
Amadeus at ICC Birmingham
Green & Fortune
Rapport at Societe Generale
Searcys at the Institute of Directors
Past winners
This award was split into two categories in 2016 to reflect the advance of private and public sites
Private sites
2021 Portico at Deutsche Bank
2019 Rapport Guest Services at Broadgate
2018 Rapport Guest Services at Omnicom
2017 Gather & Gather at Vodafone
2016 BaxterStorey at Burges Salmon
Public sites
2018 Searcys at the Gherkin
2017 Restaurant Associates at Roux at Parliament Square
2016 Levy Restaurants at Leicester City FC
Combined sites
2015 BaxterStorey at Clyde & Co
2014 Rapport at Tower 42
2013 Rapport at KPM
