Head of Food & Beverage

Overview

HEAD OF FOOD & BEVERAGE

£60,000 | London, UK – On site

City Cruises UK is part of the City Experiences division of the Hornblower Group, a global leader in world-class experiences and transportation services. We operate public dining and sightseeing cruises as well as private charters for corporate events, birthday parties, weddings, or other special occasions across London, Poole and York.

You will be responsible for Food & Beverage (front of house and back of house teams) and Customer delivery across over 25 public dining products and over 300 individual private hire events. You will be making sure well over 100,000 guests have an unforgettable experience with City Cruises each year.

You will have experience in Food and Beverage Management and/or Event management, as well as some experience in Procurement. You will be able to demonstrate success in leading and delivering on large scale customer improvements. You will possess the necessary interpersonal skills to lead and develop a diverse team through the changes you wish to introduce.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Strategic and Leadership
  • Define and document F&B annual strategy
  • Provide input into new products, menus, concepts and unique dining experiences
  • Leadership responsibility of the Kitchen team (Back of House)
  • Leadership responsibility of the Private Hire Event Delivery team (pre-event)
  • Leadership responsibility of the Front of House Event Delivery team
  • Set individual KPIs for the department and measure performance against the objectives

• Event Specification
  • Work with the Product & Commercial team to build detailed product/event specifications and delivery expectations

• Customer Delivery
  • Responsible for the Food and Beverage (F&B) provision of all City Cruises functions and charter sailings
  • Initiate continuous Customer Delivery improvements and lead on their implementation
  • Initiate continuous Food and Beverage improvements in conjunction with the Kitchen team and Purchasing/Supply team
  • Lead a team of Event Managers capable of delivering all aspects of the Event according to specification
  • Implement a system of performance monitoring highlighting areas for improvement in Event delivery, produce recommendations for improvements analysing costs and benefits

• Procurement
  • With the support of Commercial Director UK, initiate and carry out regular tenders to ensure we are always accessing the best-in-market rates
  • Identify alternative sources of supply for all stock items to ensure no over reliance on any supplier(s)
  • Identify and help to develop improvements within supplies and purchasing and participate in performance improvement activities
  • Identify areas for cost reduction and savings whilst still ensuring quality products fit for purpose
  • Regularly review new products and price promotions on existing products presenting new promotional opportunities to stakeholders
  • Together with Suppliers, F&B and Commercial team present supplier sponsorship opportunities to the business
  • Lead the F&B team on the use and administration of the end-to-end Procurement System, Procure Wizard (supplier integration, product mapping, product information, purchase ordering, inventory management, menu & recipe costing, allergen and nutritional data)

• Compliance
  • Oversee all compliance with regulatory bodies (e.g., Public/Environmental Health)
  • Manage relationships with licensing authorities regarding procedures to obtain “TENS” applications
  • Ensure all practices are managed within alcohol licensing responsibilities
  • Put in place procedures to ensure daily hygiene and work practices in both service and food production at head office
  • Ensure all F&B employees have the required certifications
  • Support the Stock Control team by ensuring F&B team comply with stock management processes and reporting
  • Ensure correct procedures around Purchase Orders, Requisitions, receiving goods, and invoicing procedures

• Resourcing
  • Evaluate and, if necessary, develop the F&B resourcing strategy
  • Develop resourcing budgets and forecasts for Front of House and Back of House and regularly feedback on costs vs budget
  • Provide up-to-date resourcing positions on annualized/seasonal hours, ensuring these are managed by the team
  • Lead on tactical solutions to forecast resourcing challenges
  • Lead on staff inductions and staff training

• Other
  • Develop a plan with the line manager for new equipment purchases and vessel improvement initiatives to support Customer Delivery expectations
  • Develop good communication channels and processes with other teams to ensure successful delivery of Events and Products
  • Achieve budgeted sales targets for onboard beverages
  • Provide management reports as required on performance of the team and recruiting positions
  • Provide regular feedback to all F&B employees on business performance, new initiatives, and training opportunities; encourage employee feedback

• People
  • Act as an Ambassador for our RESPECT Value system, supporting our values at all times
  • Develop team members through tailored coaching or training plans
  • Continuous evaluation, development and management of employee incentive schemes
  • Ensure a succession plan is in place
  • Regular performance appraisals for all staff

Requirements & Qualifications

Education Level/Qualifications Required

• Educated to a degree level or similar professional qualification

Experience Required

• Experience in a variety of noteworthy up-scale restaurants and higher volume catering establishments
• Experience in Event Management, Conferences or Banqueting
• At least three year’s previous General Manager experience in charge of a restaurant(s) and ideally multi-faceted catering establishment(s)
• Experience in Food & Beverage procurement
• Some experience of Change Management desirable

Skills Required

• Strong leadership skills
• Change Management
• Demonstrable ability to put the customer at the heart of the F&B strategy/actions
• Respect your colleagues and City Cruises customers
• Approach everything with integrity with what you do
• Deliver excellence through profit, customer satisfaction and living our City Cruises values
• Work with empathy
• Promote strong team ethics
• Be able to motivate the team and be a proactive member of the F&B Department
• Have a clear understanding of the creation of profit within the department
• To be an innovator thinker
• Adopt hands on approach to the job
• Can keep a clear head under pressure
• A warm and engaging personality – outward going, confident with first class inter-personal skills
• Great attention to detail
• Highly organised and self-motivated
• A problem solver and ‘can do’ person
• Be flexible in managing business requirements
• To exhibit a professional attitude at all times
• Smart/Well presented

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