Know your audience

When I was asked to write a hospitality article for Downtown In Business I set myself a challenge - No mention of Covid, nor Brexit. No talk of tiers, nor supply chain disruption, nor of guidance which provides less clarity and direction than a trail of artisan sourdough breadcrumbs. This paragraph aside, will I manage it? Let’s see, as I look beyond the current maelstrom and instead return to one of the basic tenets of hospitality and its ongoing application to my home city of Manchester.

Some time ago I read a book called ‘The Art of the Restaurateur’, by critic, consultant and erstwhile restaurateur (and fellow Mancunian) Nick Lander. Each chapter is a distillation of a single lesson from one of the giants of the hospitality firmament, and together they form a holy text for those wanting to run the perfect restaurant. The fundamental principle that always stuck in my mind was “Look after your regulars”. Because you cannot truly be hospitable if you don’t know what makes your customers tick.

And this made me think back to the renaissance of Northern hospitality in the late 1990s, when the entire sector was redefined by Living Ventures who popularised the idea of Business Development Managers, or ‘BDMs’. These individuals were not strictly marketing, but were far from just hosts. Instead they were expected to represent their brand’s values, and to know their regulars on sight and by name, engaging with them on their own turf before bringing them under their respective restaurant’s wings.

And be under no illusions, the model worked, because it was built around that long established concept of knowing your audience. And back then the main audience of high value regulars was in Manchester’s burgeoning corporate sector, particularly those in property and professional services. Usually suited and booted, they careered about King St, and later Spinningfields, visibly splashing the cash for long lunches, post-work drinks, extravagant dinners, and a never-ending whirl of high-margin work events.

Through the noughties other dining tribes came to the fore, not least via a boom in media and creative sectors accelerated by the opening of MediaCity and the blossoming of the Northern Quarter. But throughout this flux the pin-stripe corporate expense accounts from big shiny glass offices reigned supreme as the financial bedrock of daytime/weekday spend for many a city centre venue. As we emerge, blinking, into any ‘new normal’ will they still be here? And if not, who might replace them?

Well there is one underappreciated audience which is right here under our noses, or possibly sat tapping away quietly at the end of the bar. It is immune to the current economic travails and is growing at almost 10% per year. It is made up of 63,000 high-earning, highspending individuals (average salaries can be £50k, and three figure renumeration is not unusual), and it loves hospitality in all its guises. They probably already spend thousands in your local haunts. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you ‘tech’.

This opportunity was crystalised by a chance discussion with Amy Newton, one of the most influential people in Manchester’s tech sector. She highlighted that after a hard and often isolated day coding developers had a huge appetite for getting out and meeting their peers, dining and drinking. It is their safety net, their support system, their social life. Although an unassuming and often ‘invisible’ audience, they feel a loyalty to hospitality. They see the sector struggling and they want to help, as it helps them.

The sociologist AnnaLee Saxenian wrote a book, Regional Advantage, which explored how the symbiotic dynamic between the burgeoning start-up community and the indie hospitality operators of 1970s Silicon Valley helped it to overtake the East Coast as a global tech centre, despite the latter’s better resources, infrastructure and cachet. California’s laid back and vibrant social scene provided a fertile environment for the cross-pollination of ideas and innovations, whilst operators got cash in their tills. Manchester, this is an opportunity.

So although the UK’s hospitality sector is currently on its knees, with government policies seemingly targeted to deliver death by a thousand unjustifiable hammer blows, the truth it that it will weather this storm, and it will recover. And when it does, Nick Lander’s golden rules will remain as true as ever, for operators in each and every city. It’s ironic that in a world where so many sectors are being upended by the digital revolution, the tech scene could just be the saviour of Manchester’s restaurants, pubs and bars.

Words by: Thom Hetherington Chief Executive NRB Manchester

Tomas Maunier Managing Director City District

We in hospitality felt the reverberations instantaneously. Now this, is what you could call efficiency!

Oh no, wait...I am not talking about the desired impact it has on the increasing COVID cases affecting the North. I am talking here specifically about the calamitous repercussions on the lives of each and every individual working in hospitality. Let me paint an honest picture for you. At the time of writing, we traded at 27% year on year last week. That's -73%!

Local restrictions not only result in increased responsibilities as an operator to try your utmost to ensure safety of both guests and our teams, but sends consumer confidence plummeting. It's a constant balancing act. It's our job to not only implement and execute the strictest safety measures, but to reassure our guests that we are COVID-secure.

We understand the role we have to play to curtail the impact of COVID in our communities, we are by no means shying away from our responsibilities. In fact, on the contrary! I can wholeheartedly say that as a business we have chosen to go above and beyond.

When we were coming back from lockdown, we decided to stagger our re-openings, with the first restaurant opening at the back end of July, and the last in the first week of September. We wore face coverings from day one, when face-coverings were not even mandatory on public transport or in shops. We adhered to every local household 'guideline', despite the lack of enforcement or legal requirement We have been temperature checking every team member and guest the moment they enter, from the go.

Since we have reopened all six of our restaurants, we have served over 80,000 guests across the group since the 22nd of July. Up until now, we have had 5 positive cases amongst 330 employees. 4 guests have contacted us to tell us they have tested positive after dining, with no allusion to having contracted the virus at our restaurants. We have had 0 contacts from NHS Test & Trace.

That sounds like a very secure environment to me. 9 cases in 80,000+ are chances worth taking.

As Managing Director, I have felt the weight of hundreds of employees on my shoulders since March. I'm 100% certain I am not alone. Maybe this should bring me some solace, though unfortunately it doesn't. My pain is shared with every other operator across the nation right now.

We have seen cases of COVID-19 plateau during July, August and the first weeks of September, rising exponentially in the past month. Why is our industry being blamed? Why are we paying the price for a minority who have not been playing their part, and not taking their role in this fight seriously? My voice is only one of thousands that represent hospitality. An industry which is the third biggest contributor to our economic health. An industry which has been labelled as 'low-skilled' and has a tainted past of under appreciation - pre-pandemic. An industry, that is quite frankly on its knees right now.

Hospitality is an art. We are not lowskilled, we are not prepared to go under the radar and be overlooked by leaders who fail to recognise the dire straits in which they are indirectly leading us into.

Someone once said to me, that opinions should not affect facts, however facts should affect opinions. We understand that the numbers on the dashboard are flashing red lights right now. But I do strongly believe that there are different ways of analysing the data, and it can be used to justify decisions by presenting the numbers in the most convenient way that suits central government.

Ultimately, we all have a shared responsibility, as business owners, individuals and citizens. We must strive to strike a balance to ensure that the finger is not pointed heavily in one direction, towards one industry. We all must be united in our efforts to protect others, save lives and safeguard our economy. Let's hope that sooner rather than later we see people step up to their responsibility in this ongoing fight.