Restaurant Manager
Coppid Beech Hotel

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Jane C

00:00:03 My name’s Jane C and I’m the Restaurant Manager at the Coppid Beech Hotel. Coppid Beech Hotel is a four star hotel in Bracknell in Berkshire. My main responsibilities are overseeing the restaurant on a daily basis, as well as looking after some conferences and private dinners, training the staff, looking after the customers, and just making sure everything’s running smoothly. My role is out front, although I do work with the Chefs as well, and there’s a lot of interaction between the kitchen and the restaurant department so – but I don’t physically go in there and cook or anything like that so –

00:00:43 When I started doing Home Economics at school, I really started to enjoy the cooking side of things, and it sort of built from there. I got a Saturday job in a Department Store in Рwithin the restaurant there. I liked the, as I say, with the food, working with the food, and then working with the guests as well so Рjust even from there, the customers at the caf̩ restaurant at the Department Store. After school I went to University, and I did a Hotel and Catering HND, followed by a top-up year of a degree. And those four years were absolutely brilliant, some of the best of my life so far actually. So three years actually in University and a year in a placement in a hotel in North Wales.

00:01:26 And that whole experience was – not just for the career but for the actual learning, just – just life learning really. It was really really good. Being away from home, being self-sufficient, meeting so many new people, having to fend for yourself. It was absolutely brilliant, I recommend it to anybody.

00:01:51 I did four years at University and then I actually came here, straight afterwards, onto a graduate training scheme. So I did 18 months of training all round the hotel. So I worked in every department in the hotel. Almost gave up after the first three or four weeks, because my first department here at the hotel was the laundry, so I was counting dirty sheets, getting a big bin bag each week of the Chefs’ whites, that pretty much stank. But then moved on to different departments and really – the experience now from that 18 months is absolutely invaluable.

00:02:30 I did reception, I did accounts, I did doorman, I did everything. I think it really gives me a really good perspective on all the different jobs in the hotel. Makes me appreciate their pressures, the stress they’re under. Which you don’t always do if you’re – if you don’t actually experience their job. I think some of the – like a housekeeper, some people think it’s quite an easy job, 9 to 5, they have regular breaks. But it’s not at all, it’s really monotonous and really really difficult.

00:02:57 I think it’s really important before you come into the hospitality industry that you do realise the hours that are involved, and how it can take completely over your life, and I think it’s something that you should really consider before going into it. That you’ve got to have that passion for what you’re doing, it’s not something you can really switch off. So, as I say, most of my friends and colleagues are in hotel industry, or leisure industry, and understand the hours and everything like that so. I think where it’s difficult is things like Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and you work every year doing those events, and that sometimes can get a little bit frustrating, but my family are really really good. We just work around that.

00:03:41 If I could do anything at all, I’d like to work with some of the really great people in this industry. Some of the really good Chefs, spend some time with them, your Gordon Ramseys, your Jamie Olivers. Out of this industry, I’d have loved to have done some kind of theatre and been on the stage.

00:03:59 ENDS

 

Jane is a Restaurant Manager in a 4 star hotel. She talks of the passion you need for the hospitality industry given the hours you need to work (Christmas, New Year etc). She really loved University: ‘it was really brilliant; I recommend it to anybody’.

More information about Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors

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£27,040
average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

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55
average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

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57%  male 
43%  female 

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description
? Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors plan, direct and co-ordinate the catering services of restaurants, hotels and large-scale catering services within other organisations.
Qualifications
Entry is possible with a variety of academic qualifications and/or relevant experience. Larger restaurants and catering chains offer managerial trainee schemes, entry to which may be based on a variety of qualifications and/or relevant experience. Off- and on-the-job training is provided. Various vocational qualifications are available at Levels 2 to 4.
Tasks
  • Plans catering services and directs staff;
  • Decides on range and quality of meals and beverages to be provided;
  • Discusses customer’s requirements for special occasions;
  • Purchases or directs the purchasing of supplies and arranges for preparation of accounts;
  • Verifies that quality of food, beverages and waiting service is as required, that kitchen and dining areas are kept clean and appropriate hygiene standards are maintained in compliance with statutory requirements;
  • Plans and arranges food preparation in collaboration with other staff and organises the provision of waiting or counter staff;
  • Checks that supplies are properly used and accounted for to prevent wastage and loss and to keep within budget limit;
  • Determines staffing, financial, material and other short- and long-term requirements;
Employment by region
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Top 10 industries for this job
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Food & beverage services 128639
Accommodation 2890
Employment status
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