The Hospitality Show 2015

January 2015 sees the Hospitality Show taking place at Birmingham’s NEC between the 19th and the 21st.

Pubs are being invited to the event to indulge in free mentoring sessions with some of the most respected players in the hospitality sector.
The sessions are expected to last roughly fifteen minutes, one-to-one, and advice and guidance will be given on a variety of subjects that should be covered in hospitality such as catering equipment, innovation, crowd funding and social media.

Some of the mentors in the show will include:

– Chairman of the Catering Equipment Distributors Association and Managing Director of Vision Commercial Kitchens, Jack Sharkey
– Hotel Procurement Expert, Gordon Anderson
– Drinks Industry Guru, Stuart Rosenblatt
– Owner of consultancy service Yuzu Hospitality, Steve Cash
– Hospitality Consultant, Stephen McManus
– Hotel Profitability Guru, Peter Hales
– Chief Executive of the Institute of Hospitality, Peter Ducker

Design booth

There will be four mentoring booths dotted about the arena, and one of them will be dedicated to the business of better design.

This booth will allow visitors to discuss projects and design ideas in confidence with the experts from that specific field.

Managing director at Fresh Montgomery, Toby Wand, said: “Ask any successful business person about defining moments in their career and you can bet that at some point in their rise to prominence they will have been mentored.

There may be one or many, but the importance of a figurehead, there to help drive you on, or offer that bellwether piece of advice that you never forget and take with you throughout your career, cannot be understated.

The Innovation Zone

The Innovation Zone is another exciting highlight of the event which wil showcase some of the most recent equipment launches.

Keith Warren, the Associate Director of the Innovation Zone, which has been organised in conjunction with the Catering Equipment Suppliers Association (CESA), commented on what a fantastic opportunity this is for operators to take a look at the most relevant up-to-date equipment on the scene.

Warren explained: “The Hospitality Show is the largest showcase next year for innovative and energy-saving equipment that will be of huge interest to caterers.

The CESA Innovation Zone is a great opportunity for our members to showcase what they are developing and what the latest equipment has to offer in terms of user benefits and features.

Networking Dinner

In correspondence with the show, on Tuesday 20th January, a networking dinner will take place at the Arden Hotel.
Adam Bennett, Chef Director at the Cross in Kenilworth, Warwickshire will oversee the menu.

Adam will be representing Team UK for a third time at the Bocuse d’Or chef competition in January which will be held in Lyon.

Show Exhibitors

Also appearing at The Hospitality Show will be a variety of catering equipment suppliers available for visitors to discuss equipment with.
Jestic will be making use of the show by launching a brand new piece of equipment, although, for Smeg, Grant Sous Vide and Nayati UK, this will be their first time at the show.

For more information on The Hospitality Show 2015, visit the website!
To find hospitality jobs near you, visit our website!

Using social media to your businesses advantage

Social media is here for everyone, but how can you utilise it?

Social media is a fantastic tool that can now be enjoyed by billions of people worldwide. The likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest are all being used by businesses across the world in an effort to further their marketing efforts and make them more discoverable to the online community. So, after you’ve set up your social media profiles, just where do you go from here?

In this blog, we’ll look into the benefits of social media for business and just how you can use these fantastic tools to further your hospitality business at the click of a button!

Setting realistic goals

Given that this is your first time using social media for business, just as it will be for a number of you reading this article, you must remember to set realistic goals for yourselves to achieve. Rome wasn’t built in a day and your social media profiles won’t attract hundreds of thousands of followers in such a short time either. Be realistic in the goals you set for yourself and your business, as you may become frustrated when you do achieve optimistic goals, something which can put you off using social media if you don’t see the rewards of it.

Here are some examples of the benefits social media can offer your business:

Brand development: One of the greatest benefits available to your company through social media is the constant development of brand awareness, sociability and trust. You can now have conversations directly with your followers and answers any questions they may have for you directly from your Twitter home feed. Be sure to engage with your loyal followers in order to get a level of brand loyalty flowing, which is great for finding new business opportunities on the web.

Reaching new customers: Social media is a fantastic tool that can help to promote your business for FREE! Have any news you want to share with your audience? Share it on Facebook and Twitter! Want an opinion of a potential new choice of menu? Reach your audience through Instagram and Pinterest! The possibilities are endless when it comes to social media, it’s the ultimate marketing tool for everybody!

Make the best of a bad situation: Say you have a sudden cancellation in your restaurant. Not the best, is it? You’re losing money and a table is going to waste… Or is it? With the speed that social media holds, you can share any news of cancellations on Twitter and Facebook, so customers can snap up that table and put money back in your pocket!

Don’t rush into it

One thing you must always remember is that social media has a strategy to it, just like everything does. You wouldn’t invite guests to a dinner party when you knew absolutely nothing about them, then not preparing any food or drinks for them to have, would you? Of course you wouldn’t! Also, it’s a good comparison to use when thinking of social media strategy. You wouldn’t invite a guest around to your house and spend all night telling them how great you are. Social media is so popular because it’s social! Ask questions, get into conversations and find out the opinions of your business from customers.

Social media needs you to do your research on your target market and existing audience. The fantastic thing about having a strategy implemented into your business is the evaluation opportunities you have, where as you can measure the success of your campaigns. Likes, followers, retweets, +1’s and comments are all easily measureable through each platform, as they all have unique tools available to each platform.

Take the time to listen

A great advantage of social media is that you gain the ability to hold conversations with your customers in an easy format, but it’s always good to remember that customers will talk about your business online, whether you’re around to see it or not. Conversations can take place regardless of your presence, so take this opportunity to monitor what your customers think of your business and act upon it!

Is there a customer that wasn’t happy with service they received? Don’t ignore it, it’s the worst thing you can do! As we see it, customers are bothered by your service; otherwise they wouldn’t have taken the time to tweet/post about it! Use this opportunity to give your apologies because sometimes this is all it takes to clear up the situation. Here’s a fantastic example from AirFrance:

Always remember to…

So, in summary, it’s good to remember our main three key points: Plan, listen, act.

Don’t jump into anything as this is a recipe for disaster! Relax, take it easy and just remember to talk to your audience and always listen to their responses.

For more on hospitality news, jobs and recruitment, please visit here.