Case study: The Living Room
Living Room bars are renowned across the country, not just for attracting famous footballers such as David Beckham, but also for their excellent service standards.
The six-strong bar-restaurant chain is a winner of various awards, including this year's Publican Retail Brand of the Year.
But what makes the Living Room different from so many other restaurant and bar chains across the UK?
The company believes that good service levels are essential to the bottom line profit of the business. And with average weekly sales per site for the chain at £46,000, it's a strategy that works.
The company ethos is simple: if every member of staff is well trained, then they can focus on providing excellent service.
The company training means that every member of staff knows the fundamentals of doing their job - from making a cocktail to serving the food - and this means that it is second nature for staff to engage in conversation, smile at customers and ensure everyone is receiving the best service.
Danny Fox, operations director, said: "It's all about knowledge. If you understand what you do then you will be happy with what you do.
"If you understand your job, you can be yourself and we want people to be themselves when they carry out the job.
"Work needs to be fun - staff come to work and enjoy it."
The company's training scheme is unique to the industry, with the company investing a whacking £115,000 in training before even opening a new site. All managers of its new sites spend three months living together in one of the training houses in Manchester and Birmingham. The intention is to bond the management team and instill the elements of the company service culture.
Staff are strongly motivated through a bonus scheme - whether they are a kitchen hand or a general manager. All kitchen and barstaff have gross profit and sales targets to meet, while all serving staff keep their tips as an incentive.
Each site receives a mystery visit once a month - for which it must receive an 80 per cent pass rate. If the site does not meet the minimum requirements the site manager will lose his or her company bonus for that month.
The company believes that the manager of each site must be on the floor at peak times - if a manager is not on the floor during the peak time of a mystery visit they are immediately deducted 50 per cent.
But it is training that is the essential element of the company's ethos. As Danny said: "You have got to be happy that you are building your foundations on rock and not on sand."
