At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a vibrant café team, ensuring top-notch service and delicious food every day.
- Company: Join Bickerdikes Garden Centre, a family-run business with a stellar reputation.
- Benefits: Enjoy discounts, regular days off, and a supportive work environment.
- Other info: Opportunities for training and growth in a welcoming atmosphere.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a busy café while developing your leadership skills.
- Qualifications: Experience in hospitality management and a passion for customer service.
The predicted salary is between 26100 - 31900 £ per year.
Location: Bickerdikes Garden Centre, Letchworth
Department: Nortons Café
Contract: Full-time, Permanent
Hours: 40 hours per week
Join Our Team
Are you an experienced and enthusiastic hospitality professional looking to take the next step in your career? Bickerdikes Garden Centre is seeking an exceptional Café Manager to lead Nortons Café, a thriving and popular destination serving freshly prepared breakfasts, lunches, afternoon teas and cakes every day. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Café or Restaurant Manager who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys leading a successful team and is passionate about delivering outstanding customer service.
We are looking for someone with energy, attention to detail and the vision to help drive the continued growth and success of our café through excellent leadership and innovative ideas.
About Us
Established in 1998, Bickerdikes Garden Centre is a proudly independent, family-run business with an excellent reputation for quality, service and value. We aim to be the destination of choice for garden enthusiasts while offering an outstanding café experience for our loyal customers. Our values are built around trust and integrity, family, teamwork, accountability and retail excellence. We believe in supporting our staff, encouraging personal development and creating a welcoming environment where people enjoy coming to work every day.
What We Offer
- Free on-site parking
- 15% staff discount in the Garden Centre
- 25% staff discount in Nortons Café
- 28 days holiday, including Bank Holidays
- Retail-style working hours with no evening shifts or split shifts
- A guaranteed regular day off each week
- Every other weekend off (working a six-day week followed by a four-day week)
- The Garden Centre closes from 25th December until 2nd January, giving all staff a well-earned Christmas break
- Opportunities for training and development within a supportive family business
Key Responsibilities
As Café General Manager, you will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of Nortons Café, ensuring exceptional customer service, high food standards and strong team performance. Your responsibilities will include:
- Leading and managing the front-of-house team on a daily basis
- Maintaining consistently high standards of food quality, presentation and customer service
- Serving customers and ensuring every guest enjoys an excellent experience
- Building strong relationships with customers to encourage repeat visits
- Recruiting, training and developing new team members
- Motivating, mentoring and supporting your team to achieve high performance
- Managing staffing levels, rotas and day-to-day operational requirements
- Liaising with wholesalers and suppliers regarding pricing, ordering and product ranges
- Handling customer enquiries and resolving issues professionally
- Maintaining excellent housekeeping standards throughout the café
- Ensuring full compliance with food hygiene, allergy legislation and Health Safety regulations
- Supporting the continued growth of the café through new ideas and continuous improvement
Essential Skills Experience
We are looking for someone who has:
- Previous experience managing a busy café, restaurant or hospitality venue
- Experience leading, motivating and developing a large team
- A passion for delivering exceptional customer service
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Strong organisational and leadership abilities
- A positive, professional and hands-on approach
- High standards of personal presentation and hygiene
- Flexibility to work retail hospitality hours, including weekends
Eligibility to work in the UK
Qualifications
The successful candidate should hold, or be willing to obtain, the following qualifications:
- Essential: Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety in Catering (or equivalent)
- Food Allergy Awareness Training compliant with current UK legislation
- Knowledge and practical experience of Safer Food Better Business (SFBB)
- A sound understanding of current Food Safety and Health Safety legislation
- Desirable: IOSH Managing Safely or equivalent Health Safety qualification
If you're passionate about hospitality, enjoy leading people and want to play a key role in one of Hertfordshire's busiest independent garden centre cafés, we'd love to hear from you. Apply today with your CV and a covering letter to Mark Bickerdike telling us why you would be the perfect fit for Nortons Café at Bickerdikes Garden Centre.
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