What do Adam Handling, Tom Brown and Emma Underwood have in common? Well they all own or run a restaurant and they know, every day, how important food safety, equipment efficiency and presentation is.
It’s not as exciting or glamorous as chatting to guests in a full restaurant or receiving praise for your latest dish but if you don’t get those things right you won’t have a business. Nisbets want to become more industry facing, reach out to those in hospitality and work in partnership with them.
It officially launched In Place this week with a discussion panel and lunch by Steve Groves at Roux at Parliament Square, and after watching Adam, Tom and Emma in the topical videos filmed in association with The Staff Canteen, guests were able to ask them questions about the industry and their own experiences.
Nisbets In Place Launch
Kicking off the discussion was Adam, Chef Patron of The Frog Hoxton, he also has another site in Covent Garden and is also Executive Chef at Belmond Cadogan Hotel. With over 100 members of staff, he knows better than anyone how important it is to manage food safety.
He said: “As soon as you start serving a customer, you will be inspected immediately. Before you have even thought about your menu you have to make sure your procedures, your HACCP, your food allergens are all completely up to date.
“We do a lot of training with allergens, everyone goes through a course before they start serving customers but you can’t control everyone who works for you. All it takes is one f**k up from a member of staff, you get sued and you close the restaurant.
“It’s not just the chefs who have to worry about these things, it’s also the waiters, the bar, the runners – it’s the whole restaurant.”
In Place is looking to shine a light on and providing practical solutions to improve efficiency, eliminate risk as well as boost productivity and pride front and back of house.
Emma is the restaurant manager for Stem in Mayfair and she believes having a one-stop shop like In Place would be more efficient.
She said: “I’ve learnt from the launch today that Nisbets wants to be more approachable and have a bigger presence within the restaurants to help us all progress together.
What people thought of Nisbets In Place launch
Nicola Cross, owner of Cross Knox Consulting
“I think after today I understand that Nisbets really wants to be a part of the industry, they are not just a supplier.
“We need the support, the voice needs to be heard and if Nisbets can help with that, it’s great.”
Rupert Porter, Nisbets key account manager for central London restaurants and restaurant groups
“Nisbets is the largest out there for what it does, as soon as I started my role just the name itself has always been an aid.
"So, to have more support for the industry through In Place can only help me in my role."
“It would make my job a lot easier if I could get everything I need from one place. We do use Nisbets for most things so they are nearly there.”
In Place will also host the
Virtual showroom
Although the website will feature specific products and testimonials it will also host the Virtual showroom where customers can travel through to discover hotspots that flag the key points of inspiration, insight or solutions relevant to them.
Tom opened his first solo restaurant, cornerstone in hackney wick, just five months ago and had to very quickly learn to manage the rising costs of a restaurant.
Klaus Goeldenbot
As well as equipment he discussed his staff and said: “I’m lucky to have a team of people who believe in what we do. We try and make sure that everyone has a very good standard of life – service charge for example, I don’t take a penny of that it all goes back to the staff. Everyone knows that they are treated fairly and paid good wages. It’s important to look after them because at the end of the day if you don’t you are the one who suffers.”
He also explained how in hindsight he made a number of errors when planning and opening which he wouldn’t repeat. He said: “There’s not enough time to list all the mistakes! But the main one would be not getting a project manager in from the start.
“When I saw the quote for the service I laughed them out the door, I thought I could do it, but you can’t do everything yourself.”
Klaus Goeldenbot, Nisbets Group Chief Executive Officer, sets the direction for the business in order to continue the success story which Andrew Nisbet started 35 years ago.
He said: “I see my mission as helping our customers within the hospitality industry to do a great job. I hope today that people have taken away that Nisbets is a lot more than the reliable, next day distributer of catering equipment. We are actually here to help them make their business more successful, help them do great things and in particular during times where it is sometimes a bit tougher.
“We can offer more than just products, we can offer help and solutions.”
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