General Manager in London

Company Description

Dabbers Social Bingo is a modern, entertainment-led bingo venue offering unforgettable experiences for small groups, date nights, and larger office outings.

Open weekly, the venue features lively events with top comedians, performers, and musicians, alongside custom cocktails, tasty food, and unique bingo games.

Guests can expect big prizes, a custom-built ball machine, and high-quality production, sound, and service.

Dabbers Social Bingo is committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming community space where anyone can relax, play, and enjoy excellent value from a full evening of entertainment.

The mission is to celebrate community, fun, and the enduring appeal of bingo in a fresh, contemporary setting.

The Opportunity

Full Time General Manager Annual 40K Salary with bonus package and shares in the business.

Dabbers Social Bingo is looking for an exceptional General Manager to take ownership of our venue and help drive the next stage of the business.

This is not simply another General Manager position.

We are looking for someone who wants to invest their time, energy and passion into a business that they can genuinely have a stake in.

Shares in the company will form part of the overall remuneration package, giving the successful candidate the opportunity to benefit from the value they help create.

We want someone who thinks and acts like an owner.

That means caring about every pound spent, every customer who walks through the door, every member of the team, every plate leaving the kitchen and every opportunity to make the business better.

You will be expected to go the extra mile, challenge the status quo and constantly look for ways to grow revenue, improve profitability and make Dabbers an even better place to work and visit.

The Role

As General Manager, you will have overall responsibility for the day-to-day operation, commercial performance and culture of the venue.

You will lead the management team across front of house, bar and kitchen, while working closely with the wider Dabbers team to grow the business.

This is a hands-on position.

We are not looking for someone who manages solely from an office.

You should be comfortable being on the floor during a busy service, supporting the kitchen when required, talking to customers, coaching the team and getting involved wherever the business needs you.

Your mindset should always be

“If this were my business, what would I do?”

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial Performance & Growth
• Take full ownership of the venue’s financial and operational performance.
• Drive sales and profitability across bingo, food, drink, events and private hires.
• Understand the venue P&L and actively manage labour, margins, stock, wastage and controllable costs.
• Identify new revenue opportunities and turn ideas into action.
• Work with the wider team to increase footfall, repeat visits and customer spend.
• Build relationships with local businesses, communities and potential partners.
• Continually look for ways to improve the commercial performance of the venue.
• Treat company money with the same care you would treat your own.
• Leadership & People
• Recruit, develop and retain a brilliant venue team.
• Create a positive, ambitious and accountable working culture.
• Lead from the front and set the standards you expect from others.
• Coach and develop managers so they take genuine responsibility for their areas of the business.
• Set clear targets and hold people accountable for delivering them.
• Recognise great performance and deal quickly and fairly with poor performance.
• Build a team where people are willing to go the extra mile for each other and for our customers.
• Food & Kitchen

Previous hands-on kitchen experience is essential for this role.

The successful candidate must understand how a busy commercial kitchen operates and be confident managing both front and back of house.

You will

• Oversee kitchen performance alongside the kitchen team.
• Understand food GP, portion control, wastage, stock management and labour costs.
• Ensure consistently high standards of food quality and presentation.
• Understand food safety, hygiene and kitchen compliance.
• Help develop efficient kitchen systems and ways of working.
• Be comfortable stepping into the kitchen and supporting the team when required.
• Work with the kitchen team to develop a food offer that customers want to return for.

You do not necessarily need to be a current Head Chef, but you must have meaningful commercial kitchen experience and understand what excellent kitchen operations look like.

Customer Experience

Dabbers is an entertainment business as much as it is a hospitality business.

You will be responsible for ensuring every customer receives the energy, service and experience they expect from Dabbers.

You will

• Maintain exceptional standards of hospitality.
• Be visible and engaged with customers.
• Deal confidently with customer feedback and complaints.
• Ensure the venue always looks and feels ready for business.
• Work with the entertainment and hosting teams to deliver a seamless customer experience.
• Constantly look for small improvements that make a big difference to our guests.
• Operational Standards
• Ensure the venue operates safely, legally and efficiently.
• Maintain excellent standards of cleanliness, maintenance and presentation.
• Ensure licensing, health & safety, food safety and other compliance requirements are met.
• Manage stock, ordering, cash controls and operational procedures.
• Ensure staffing levels are appropriate for the needs of the business.
• Take ownership of problems rather than waiting for somebody else to solve them.
• Who We’re Looking For

We are looking for someone with

• Strong General Manager or senior hospitality management experience.
• Previous commercial kitchen experience.
• Experience managing a high-volume hospitality, leisure or entertainment operation.
• Strong commercial awareness and a good understanding of P&L management.
• Experience managing food and beverage margins, labour and operational costs.
• A proven ability to lead, motivate and develop teams.
• The confidence to make decisions and take responsibility for the results.
• Energy, resilience and a genuine passion for hospitality.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and desire to grow a business rather than simply operate one.
• A willingness to work evenings and weekends as required by the business.
• The Person

The right person for this role will be driven, commercially minded and entrepreneurial.

You won’t walk past a problem because it belongs to somebody else’s department.

You’ll notice when something isn’t right and fix it.

You’ll see opportunities that others miss.

You’ll understand that sometimes building a successful business means staying late, arriving early, helping another department or doing something that isn’t technically written in your job description.

Most importantly, you will want to build something.

We want a General Manager who can look back in several years and say

“I helped build this company – and I own a part of what we created.”

Package

• Competitive General Manager salary
• Company shares/equity as part of the overall remuneration package
• Performance-related incentives
• Opportunity to play a significant role in the future growth of Dabbers Social Bingo
• Genuine opportunity to grow alongside the business

This role is suited to someone who wants more than their next hospitality management job.

It is for someone who wants to put their energy into a company, help grow its value and share in the success they help create.