NEWS of new Manchester restaurant openings has become an almost daily occurence at Confidential. And the deluge shows no signs of slowing. According to property agents Savills, the number of upmarket and casual dining restaurants in the city has doubled in the last five years alone. These range from small independent restaurants to national chains and London-based operators attracted to Manchester’s growing economy.

yes it’ll get difficult as it always does, but we’ll ride it through. It’s a good thing for Manchester generally

Upcoming city centre openings include: two venues from Drake & Morgan over the next twelve months; a new rooftop restaurant by the colossal D&D Group on the top floor of Allied London’s 19-storey No1 Spinningfields scheme; sophisticated Soho-founded seafood celeb haunt, Randall & Aubin, on Bridge Street; three restaurants by Michelin-starred chef Michael O’Hare; Bundobust and Shoryu Ramen in Piccadilly Gardens; Laundrette in First Street... and so on and so forth.

As Manchester restaurant openings rumble on relentlessly, hospitality recruitment agencies have been rubbing their hands together with glee. After all, venues don’t run themselves, and all these new places need staff.

But is the sheer number of new openings causing a hospitality skills deficit within the city? One which could, in turn, hold the industry back?  

A number of prominent chefs and restaurant owners have been vocal about this issue on social media, bemoaning the fact that many chefs don’t even bother to turn up for an interview. Louisa Richards, General Manager at Hawksmoor, suggests that recruiting chefs is a separate issue from front of house staff, and one not specific to Manchester:

"From what I hear from colleagues in the industry, chef recruitment is more of a national crisis. Chefs not turning up to interviews or trial shifts are happening all over. So much so, that they’re even thinking how to incentivise people to attend trials.”

Paul Moran, Group Managing Director of Living Ventures agrees:

“Kitchen-wise it’s been a national issue for a while, but now it’s spreading to all departments and the whole industry has always been tricky by nature. Our view is that paying 50p per hour more isn’t going to make a difference, but a firm foundation in training, opportunity and development will, along with a sense of being part of something.”

.Adam Reid of The French is catching them young

Perhaps the issue isn’t just about recruiting good staff, but retaining them in the face of temptation from shiny new brands, especially after investing time and trouble training them. Kamila Nkamchor, Restaurant Manager of The French at The Midland Hotel, revealed how she motivates her team, which recently won 'Front of House Team of The Year' at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards:

“Managers need to recognise that training isn’t just about what happens on the plate, it’s about the produce, wines, cocktails and ingredients as well as etiquette, how to serve, and body language. We organise trips out to suppliers and I try to send each member of staff somewhere to work stages at top level for a few days or even just to eat out and experience service from a different angle.”

Many establishments recruit from local catering colleges such as Tameside or South Trafford. Manchester Chef and recent Great British Menu finalist, Adam Reid, of The French, favours the ‘Alex Ferguson approach’ of recruiting younger people and training them comprehensively:

“I can’t go employing people who are going to work for six months and then go somewhere easier with The French on their CV. I’ve started taking on a lot of younger people, like college graduates. The core of my team is made up of people that I’ve taken through the system and promoted and rewarded appropriately.”

High-end brands such as Hawksmoor also recognise the importance of in-depth training and invest in external courses such as those run by Watershed in London who encourage senior staff to be able to adapt their management style to individuals. As a result, GM Louisa tells us:

“We turn the typical hierarchy upside down, so we take people who are relatively junior and try to support them with an emphasis on development. We’ve retained most of the staff we have had since we opened in Manchester, those who have left have gone on to open their own businesses or have left hospitality completely. Hopefully we can provide a platform and a resource to help the city grow.”

.Hawksmoor GM Louisa Richards (right) picking up 'Restaurant of the Year' at this year's MFDF Awards

Living Ventures are keen to bring more education into the workplace and have recently set up a Chef’s Academy with Liverpool College.

“There’s a difference between going to college and working in the industry and we’re trying to get some middle ground”, Paul Moran tells us, “in our eyes it makes sense to bridge the gap between university and the real world so students understand how we operate. We’re just trying to help move the education process and make it more relevant and more viable as a career.”

Does Britain have the same hospitality culture as Europe or countries further afield? Traditionally, in this country at least, hospitality has been considered as a transient step, rather than a viable and permanent career option. But as the sector grows, are more young people in Manchester looking to hospitality as a serious long-term career?

Moran has noticed a shift in the proportion of interviewees who are looking for a long-term career in hospitality. “It might not be the be-all and end-all career, but it’s a fast track opportunity for someone with the right levels of enthusiasm, who hasn’t necessarily done well academically,” he says. “Training has become a lot better within the industry. It’s taken more seriously but I don’t think it gets the credit it deserves for how much it does for the economy on the basis of its ability to take people who aren’t necessarily highly educated and get them in full time employment, starting them off on a respectable career path.”

A classic example is Chris Hill, who rose through the ranks of Living Ventures from Duty Manager to become Managing Director of New World Trading Company, one of their satellite brands. Hill ended up as CEO and recently bought the company through a private equity firm.

So is anyone worried about how all these new openings might affect already strained staffing levels? It seems most restaurants have confidence in their teams and are pretty upbeat about it. Hawksmoor’s Louisa thinks it’s important for restaurants to be kept on their toes, “as a business, we embrace it. It’ll improve the city and make other restaurants improve their standards.”

Paul Moran is equally positive, “yes it’ll get difficult as it always does, but we’ll ride it through. It’s a good thing for Manchester generally. The same thing could have been said a few years ago with the explosion of Spinningfields but that hasn’t destroyed the rest of the city. Transport links are a bigger issue.”

We’ll save that one for a separate article.

 

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