Following receipt of the June issue of Chef & Restaurant Magazine, we were inspired to publish the introduction to this month’s edition below by Editor Claire Bosi. You can enjoy reading the whole magazine here, as we have. Especially the article by Silvano Giraldin.
For any of you who were perplexed by our campaign to ask the PM to appoint a Minister for Hospitality, take a look around you now.
The situation we are faced with in 2021 is not purely a result of the pandemic. Granted, that has been devastating for all. But add in the exodus of many of our skilled EU workforce because of Brexit, then sprinkle over some of our employees losing heart with the sector, stir in the opportunity to work in other sectors while furloughed, and realising it’s more preferential, then blow torch it with previous demands and conditions of the industry for many of our employees that are simply no longer tolerated. Now garnish that with the fact that, for years, we have allowed our profession to be relentlessly considered ‘low-skilled’.
Simply put. In true Hospitality speak. We are in the Shit.
It is going to be a long road, putting it right. That responsibility falls onto each and every one of us. No more head in the sand. No more hoping it all turns out okay. Blinkers off. We need to put this right.
Working in hospitality, I believe that we place more emphasis on ‘getting through service’ or ‘making it through a busy weekend’ or ‘I am one down in the Kitchen or Front’. We are reactionary, we just want to get through that particular time – it’s in our nature. Never really looking further than the next few days. A wise woman once said to me “It’s a case of turn up, eat up, drink up and f**k off” and then the same the next day, and the day after that.
As an industry, we don’t appear to think of the future. We don’t plan, look around, see where we (as an industry, not as a sole operator) are heading and act accordingly. Reactive, not Proactive. We are too concentrated on now – and, at times it feels, not bothered about the future of the sector – what condition we leave the industry in for the next generations.
Up until last year, we have never held Government, and those in Governance, to account. We have never demanded, nor challenged. We have relied on trade bodies, and they do excellent work – but we also have voices and opinions, and as operators and business owners, we must be looking at not just a 1 week plan, but a 1 year, a 3 year a 7 year and so on.
There are some operators out there that have a full brigade, front of house team and restaurant, but only a handful. These lucky few may feel they are doing okay. But just because you have a full compliment of crew, doesn’t mean that the industry is safe. Look at your peers, how many do you know who are short staffed?
Recovery for the hospitality industry is not only opening doors and hearing the tills ring once more. It’s not only about organising finances to be able to pay back loans, or accrued debts. It’s certainly not about scraping together enough people to ‘get through service’.
We are still simmering away with our pressure for a Minister for Hospitality, I remain hopeful. It’s important, not just for the next year, but for the entire future of the sector. But representation within Government is just one of our routes towards a great future. The rest needs to come from within, from us.
For our industry to thrive, our recovery now includes a full rebrand.
Claire Bosi
Editor Chef Publishing
Times Radio talks with H&C News about hospitality’s people and skills crisis
News from the hospitality and catering industry is also being featured extensively in our Facebook and twitter social media accounts with the opportunity to engage with others in hospitality and share your views.
Hospitality & Catering News: Brand Hospitality. – 4 June 2021 – Brand Hospitality.
Copyright: All content in Hospitality & Catering News is protected by copyright.