Last night’s episode of Channel 4’s Undercover Boss promised a dilemma for Simon Kossoff, the chief executive of Carluccio’s, who was going undercover in his Italian restaurant chain. Carluccio’s has ambitions to seriously expand an already considerable business (over 80 restaurants across the UK), so what Kossoff might discover could have serious implications for the planned £50 million investment…
Compelling and dramatic content
Good TV, of course, is about delivering compelling and dramatic content, so viewers from the hospitality sector might not regard the “chaotic kitchens and demotivated staff” that Kossoff discovered in quite the same light as the wider public.
However, it was made clear that, beneath the success of some of the restaurants visited, there are real and varied problems, including:
- Internal competition: the opening of a site in Leeds Trinity shopping centre within a few minutes of their first site in the city had seen a significant decline in custom. What had been done to boost marketing and recover sales?
- The Peterborough site had not replaced its head chef and GM in six months. Unsurprisingly, problems were arising: messy kitchen (not something customers would appreciate when seen on screen), equipment malfunctions (faulty food lift resulting in cold food), and so on.
- In Bicester, inadequate ordering systems (only 4 EPOS points) meant staff were queuing to place orders, customers were waiting for their food, stress was rising, staff were dissatisfied…
Simon Kossoff’s bravery in undertaking the programme and the risks associated with ‘exposing’ his own organisation is admirable, as are the short-term ‘remedial’ actions taken to correct the problems identified and to recognise and reward the staff encountered – you’ll have to watch the programme to check these out.
However, he will no doubt be spending much more time working out whether the problems encountered also exist in the 75 restaurants he did not visit, and how to put in place both the systems and the management to correct them now and prevent them in future.
Meantime, Carluccio’s competitors will no doubt be doing some checking of their own!
Undercover Boss Series 6, Episode 6: Carluccio’s can be seen here