Picking Winners

An employee’s perspective on the impact of GBI’s methods on his career and work.

In the December 2009  issue of Restaurant Magazine, Gavin Brooks, area manager of Konditor & Cook, describes joining a company that has just engaged a management consultancy – and its impact on his career bringing a specialist management consultancy has on his job and career. He explains how his need for career and skill development was met by Konditor & Cook but also on the benefits that David Gibson and his GBI team brought to Konditor & Cook’s interview process and training programmes.

His story shows what people look for in a company, stressing on thedesire and need to be trained and managed properly to ensure that everyone’s talents and abilities are recongnised and utilised.

To read the rest of the article click here: Picking Winners Dec 2009

For more information on how GBI can help you achieve the same results, contact us at info@gibsoninfrastructures.com.

Visit our website www.gibsoninfrastructures.com

What’s In It For You?

In the November issue of Restaurant Magazine, Mark Ryan, Operations Director at Konditor & Cook, discusses the benefits of bringing in specialised Management Consultants to improve the organisation’s operations and develop its staff and management.

At first Mark Ryan was very sceptical about bringing in a management consultancy but after seeing the results, he has changed his mind. He has seen that the methods applied to world-class companies can easily be replicated in the food industry.

He stresses: “I have learned that the right kind of guidance and structure, from the right type of person, can add tangible value to your organisation.”

He also comments on the process that GBI adopted to implement the organisational changes to Konditor & Cook, explaining how the organisation’s management has to believe in the changes.
Strategic planning is also essential for an organisation and Mark Ryan observed how vital it is to get this right from tbe beginning. GBI was there to support and facilitate these changes for Konditor & Cook as well as provide the team with all the necessary tools in order to continue the organisation’s success.

Read the rest of the article What’s In It For You?.

Visit our website to find out more about the benefits of using GBI : www.gibsoninfrastructures.com

To find out more email info@gibsoninfrastructures.com

Train to Gain – Leadership and Management Training

Train to Gain Funding

GBI is now able to access the Train to Gain funding for Leadership and Management through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). This will support the training and development of Directors, Managers and Leaders operating within your organisation.

The key features of this Train to Gain funding are:

• Up to £1000 available for development of Directors and Management
  1. Up to £500 train to gain funding for an owner/manager/key director/leader without contribution from the employer
  2. A further £500 train to gain funding for the management team, including the original recipient, providing the employer matches the contribution.

So you could have £1500 worth of training for just a £500 contribution

• All organisations with between 5 and 249 people are eligible for this Train to Gain funding

How Train to Gain funding works:

GBI will notify your regional Leadership and Management broker for you and they will then contact you to take you through the formalities of applying for the Train to Gain funding. Very soon after this you will be informed of the granting of the funding and how to claim your money.
With proof of the commencement of learning and production of a receipted invoice, your Specialist Advisor will arrange for the LSC to refund you the agreed contribution.

For more information contact info@gibsoninfrastructures.com

Visit our website: www.gibsoninfrastructures.com

Handling Customer Complaints

The retailing industry is one that gets complaints very often as its primary aim is customer service. So it is important to provide customers with excellent service that will make them come back. A research conducted by TARP revealed that on average a dissatisfied customer will tell about 10 of his/her friends, and in turn they will each tell another 5, which comes up to a total of 50 people.

Nowadays with the internet, blogging, twittering and social media networks, a dissatisfied customer can make an even bigger damage to your business.

Take for example Giles Coren. He posted a bitter remark on Twitter about how he was dealt with by a restaurant that had charged him twice for the same bill. This can potential really harm a restaurant’s reputation.

For every complaint a restaurant hears, there are bound to be a few others that feel the same way but have not expressed it. Most of the time complaints are reasonable (there are some that are crazy and are complaints for the sake of complaining).

Consistency in customer service and products is the name of the game. You have to provide every customer with the same level of service to garuantee repeat business. Repeat business generates 95% of a restaurant’s revenue.

GBI ensures that there is rigour and consistency in your business and puts into place methods and processes that will gurantee that all staff work to the company’s standards. Do get in touch with us to learn how we can help you embed that consistency throughout your organisation.

website: www.gibsoninfrastructure.com

email: info@gibsoninfrastructures.com

Take your Office Party Higher!!!

As we are nearing Xmas office parties, GBI recommends that this year you ‘raise the bar’.

In the Shortlist magazine we found this rather alternative suggestion for your office party: Dinner In The Sky!

This is obviously not for the faint hearted or those with vertigo. This event is hosted by Dinner In The Sky (www.dinnerinthesky.com) and can host up to 22 guests and comes with chefs, waiters and entertainers. Alternatively, you can host your wedding reception, business meetings, receptions…and the list goes on.

Some negatives that we envisage are  the restriction of speaking to only the people on your left and right, not a great deal of freedom of movement (ie, the WC is out of the question!), and most probably numbness for sitting down too long.

But we think it could be a great alternative to the usual office parties and it will most definitely be hard to top.  If you try it please tell us how it went and send us photos. (info@gibsoninfrastructures.com)

To read the original article visit shortlist.com, Issue 102, page 21 (http://magazine.shortlist.com/1V4ae71189e2c87012.cde)

Social Media Lessons

3 Tips to make the best of social media

Chris Allison, of NeboWeb recommends three ways to make the best out of social media. These tips have been taken from the food industry; they are used by food vendors, food chains and top restaurants. This comes to show that social media can be a very good communications tool for the food industry as it can bring customers closer to the product. Here is a summary of the top three tips.

1. Play your strengths:

Fast food chains, such as Chipotle and Pizza Hut, use their asset of serving fast hot food and have created iPhone applications. These applications allow users to order their pizza using their mobile phones, making easy to use and convenient for their customers.

2. Solve Old Problems:

If you are a food vendor and you frequently change location, in the past that would have been a big problem for customer retention. They would not know where you are! Food vendors can now easily let their customers now where they are and their specials, using applications such as Twitter. An example is food trucks Kogi’ BBQ in the US, where they twit their locations.

3. Answer the Big Question:

Social media has to be used effectively to show a return for a business. All the available ways of communication around should be used to communicate with customers and tell them what they want to hear. Answering the big question is important, but you have to know what YOUR big question is. Weekly emailing newsletter is not something new, but can still be used as a form of communication, for example letting customers know about this weeks specials, etc.

This comes to show that media can be used to your advantage and get closer to your end user, the customer. Media does not have to be expensive or complicated, it just has to put the message across.

To read Chris’s full article please click here!

Private Equity

A recent Sunday Times article (20th September 2009) outlines how Private Equity firms have begun focusing on operations as the last method of maximising revenue from their investments. Excellence in operations has emerged as the final winner of value creation in the food industry as well, as the best method of ensuring continued financial success in or out of a recession.

GBI works with the management team to determine and imple­ment operational cost reduction methods, talent recruitment, training and retention, and succession planning to position the group for financial growth (rather than simply survival) prior to a successful financial exit via private equity.

Innovation & Talent Management Forum

Allegra Strategies - Innovation and Talent Management Forum

GBI attended the Innovation & Talent Management Forum. David Gibson, the fournder and CEO of Gibson Business Infrastructures was a quest speaker at the event. The title of his presentation was 'Applying World Class Methods From Multinational Companies to the Food Industry'. It is great to see that companies are looking for new ways to enhance their performance. For photos and information please vist www.gbi-allegra.tk.

Chipotle Landing in London

Chipotle announced today the location of its FIRST London. The store will open sometime in April 2010. The US based buritos and tacos restaurant chain is also looking to expand to the rest of Europe in the near future.

Another US food company that is trying to enter the UK Food market. Lets hope that Chipotle does not end up like Taco Bell, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts, A&W Restaurants. It will need to look at how its operations and products comply with the UK standards and market demands. Offering the right product in the right way is crucial for all restaurants. BUT having well running good back of house operations customised to the local market is key for any restaurant and retail company expanding into UK and Europe.

Konditor And Cook Opens New Store

9/11/2009
The new Konditor & Cook at South Bank is OPEN!!!
As GBI we are really excited for the growth of Konditor & Cook, a client that we helped mature and develop for growth. Pop down to any of their stores and tell us what you think. Their new store is located at 63 Stamford St, SE1 9NB, or just visit any of their other stores in Waterloo, Borough Market, Chancery Lane, The Gherkin, and South Bank.