Catering & Bar Feedback Seasons 2017,18,19,20 & 21/22

[chappie]

The problem regarding the quality of service is the fact that it’s third party people that are used for service.
Having a company come in and run the show is not the best of ideas, no accountability, lack of hospitality training equals poor service.

If I was Tigers I would run the bars in house, proper training, accountability and a direct point to sort out any problems regarding service and stock taking, for them to run out of beer is so bad and it should never happen to a club the size of the Tigers.

[sapajo]

The problem regarding the quality of service is the fact that it’s third party people that are used for service.
Having a company come in and run the show is not the best of ideas, no accountability, lack of hospitality training equals poor service.

If I was Tigers I would run the bars in house, proper training, accountability and a direct point to sort out any problems regarding service and stock taking, for them to run out of beer is so bad and it should never happen to a club the size of the Tigers.

Well contracting out from a commercial prospective makes sense. It guarantees a risk free fixed annual income regardless of sales for the club. The negatives as you say are Tigers have zilch control of the service, staff and stock.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

The problem regarding the quality of service is the fact that it’s third party people that are used for service.
Having a company come in and run the show is not the best of ideas, no accountability, lack of hospitality training equals poor service.

If I was Tigers I would run the bars in house, proper training, accountability and a direct point to sort out any problems regarding service and stock taking, for them to run out of beer is so bad and it should never happen to a club the size of the Tigers.

Well contracting out from a commercial prospective makes sense. It guarantees a risk free fixed annual income regardless of sales for the club. The negatives as you say are Tigers have zilch control of the service, staff and stock.

After the shop was returned in house, maybe the "Catering" will be next?

[TigerFeetSteve]

The problem regarding the quality of service is the fact that it’s third party people that are used for service.
Having a company come in and run the show is not the best of ideas, no accountability, lack of hospitality training equals poor service.

If I was Tigers I would run the bars in house, proper training, accountability and a direct point to sort out any problems regarding service and stock taking, for them to run out of beer is so bad and it should never happen to a club the size of the Tigers.

Well contracting out from a commercial prospective makes sense. It guarantees a risk free fixed annual income regardless of sales for the club. The negatives as you say are Tigers have zilch control of the service, staff and stock.

After the shop was returned in house, maybe the "Catering" will be next?

Quite possibly, though with Covid still being around and it's possible impact on attendances it probably is safer for the club financially in the short term to keep outsourcing that one.

[LE18]

Well contracting out from a commercial prospective makes sense. It guarantees a risk free fixed annual income regardless of sales for the club. The negatives as you say are Tigers have zilch control of the service, staff and stock.

After the shop was returned in house, maybe the "Catering" will be next?

Quite possibly, though with Covid still being around and it's possible impact on attendances it probably is safer for the club financially in the short term to keep outsourcing that one.

But how many of those, students I presume, have been Covid Jabbed, have they been screened by their temporary employer?

[sapajo]

After the shop was returned in house, maybe the "Catering" will be next?

Quite possibly, though with Covid still being around and it's possible impact on attendances it probably is safer for the club financially in the short term to keep outsourcing that one.

But how many of those, students I presume, have been Covid Jabbed, have they been screened by their temporary employer?

Who knows but as this juncture its not a legal requirement nor do they work in the Red Zone protected part of the stadium.

[LE18]

Quite possibly, though with Covid still being around and it's possible impact on attendances it probably is safer for the club financially in the short term to keep outsourcing that one.

But how many of those, students I presume, have been Covid Jabbed, have they been screened by their temporary employer?

Who knows but as this juncture its not a legal requirement nor do they work in the Red Zone protected part of the stadium.

Sapajo, I don't want to be argumentative, I know its not mandatory but these kids are all very young, possibly had no jabs whatsoever and they are serving thousands of people, albeit from behind the bar, but it does just make me wonder how big is the risk and shouldn't the club take the responsibility not just leave it to the outsourcer?

[sapajo]

I could not agree more! The club as per my post on the red zone thread are not required by law to implement any anti covid measures in the stadium to protect supporters and so have not done so. However the club according to Tigerbeat may have chosen to create the red zone to protect players and staff from covid.

Make of that what you will when it comes to responsibility ?

[ourla]

It's a real shame that for the all the improvements on the field that this hasn't been addressed.

[TigerSID]

We had the same experience on Friday night, went to the Final Whistle after the match as a party of six and queued for what seemed like an age getting nowhere so ended up giving up and popped into town for a decent pint. The light up white plastic drinks tables are an improvement, at least you have somewhere to rest your pint, unfortunately for us just couldn't easily get one (or six) so voted with feet.

[LE18]

Just bumped this bit in hope club might reply!

Whilst writing, there were at least two accidents outside the ground tonight, My friend's wife fell full length over the black barrier placed in the passageway between the 2 roads on the Crumbie side of the ground, she was quite badly hurt. Later, when we got into the Drogs another friend told me his girl friend had been injured by a man tripping over at the same barrier and landing on her. What are the club's H&S going to do about this, what are these black barriers for?

[/quote]

Up date,

Friends wife fractured her elbow in the accident.

[Scott1]

Just bumped this bit in hope club might reply!

Whilst writing, there were at least two accidents outside the ground tonight, My friend's wife fell full length over the black barrier placed in the passageway between the 2 roads on the Crumbie side of the ground, she was quite badly hurt. Later, when we got into the Drogs another friend told me his girl friend had been injured by a man tripping over at the same barrier and landing on her. What are the club's H&S going to do about this, what are these black barriers for?

Up date,

Friends wife fractured her elbow in the accident.
[/quote]

Hope all is ok mate

[AngusMcCoatup]

The Tiger handpulled beer was good in the Crumbie Lounge once they got organised. There is no pre planning of payments system and beer dispensing. But so glad they allow the filling of the old Tigers plastic cups of two years ago. Wish they would bring the two Pinter pots back!,

[LE18]

Regarding shortages, my Golf Club, and our local pub, are both experiencing problems with their Guinness orders, both tell me its down to logistics, shortage of drivers, is this the reason Tigers keep running out?

[Tiglon]

There have been this year, and still are, difficulties in getting hold of various things. Draught Guinness was pretty much impossible to source for a month or two, some draught beers have been rationed by suppliers at times. If you now look at equipment suppliers to the hospitality industry there are a huge number of items (kitchen supplies, crockery, glassware, cutlery) that have an ETA in excess of 3 months. Various food products have also been completely unavailable for long periods of time (particularly those that involve labour intensive preparation or picking, e.g. crab meat).

The difficulty in employing people in hospitality has been well documented recently, but ignores the fact that it was already incredibly challenging for more than a decade. It is, I imagine, even more difficult when the hours available are sporadic.

Hospitality is all about people, and the cost of people is rising far quicker than inflation and far quicker than the prices that hospitality businesses are charging you. You want better trained staff? Well then you have the cost of someone to do the training plus the cost of the people who are being trained while they're being trained, followed by the very real likelihood that those casual staff you just trained might never show up again. That's a lot of costs that then need to be factored into the price of your pint - who's up for paying £8 a pint served quickly and efficiently against Sale tomorrow? Anyone?

To a point, we all have to accept that service standards and availability of the foods and drinks we like will not be as good as they once were unless we are willing to stump up considerably more money - this is a general observation about the hospitality industry, some may say the hospitality specifically at Welford Road has been disappointing since well before we heard of covid.

None of this is a dismissal of the feedback here or even a defence of the club or service provider, merely some context for anyone who's interested.

I'd be happy to recommend some places where the service will be flawless and you will never hear "I'm sorry sir, we've run out of..." but the experience will cost many multiples of a day out at Welford Road. Life is all about choices, isn't it?