Well let’s start with the elephant in the room. It’s been a while since I was a girl, but ‘Views from a semi-menopausal 50-something industry stalwart’ is just too much of a mouthful. So, if you can pretend I’m a girl, it will make me deliriously happy. Thank you.
So, who am I?
Let’s start there. I’m Kellie Rixon MBE FIH and I’ve worked in hospitality for almost 40 years.
I started in my mums incredibly busy café in Liverpool city centre in the 80s, and since then I’ve pretty much done every job in hospitality.
I’ve worked in kitchens, behind the bar, I’ve waited on, done cellar work, worked in conferences and exhibitions, HR, marketing, and even spent some time in sales. I’ve literally pulled myself through the ranks of this wonderful, challenging industry to become somewhat of a small success story (well I am to my family) culminating in becoming Chair of the Supervisory board of the institute of hospitality and an MBE to boot.
Through various conversations I’ve been asked to give my view on the topics and situations affecting hospitality today.
Now these are my views and mine alone, but I have a lifetime of real-life experiences and an unending love for my sector, so, I hope you enjoy considering my view along with everyone else’s.
I’m not here to be controversial but anyone who knows me will tell you I’m honest, straightforward and direct. I believe in the power of people and the power of a job well done. So, I will hopefully touch on subjects or themes in the months ahead, which resonate with you and all the other lovely hospitality people out there.
My plan is to give each column a ‘theme’ so I don’t ramble on about the price of strawberries (although that may actually find its way into here at some point). So, I thought my first theme should be something personal. It is and I’ll explain why. So as way of an introduction my ramblings and musing my first foray falls loosely under the theme, hospitality and community.
Too many conversations are just about city centre hospitality and whilst that plays a significant part of the whole industry today, I want to focus on the local hospitality businesses out there. Part of my career was spent running pubs for regional operators.
I worked for The Tetley Pub Co., Wolverhampton & Dudley (Banks) and Marstons running pubs up and down the country. Believe me, the idea of running a pub at that point wasn’t really a career aspiration for most twenty somethings, but like most people in the industry I fell into it by getting a part-time job behind the bar.
I quickly got the bug. I also quickly realised how hard it was and how many hats you need to wear. I was responsible for everything, so I needed to tackle everything. As well as understanding the workings of the operation I needed to understand the commercials as margins are tight and expectations high. I had to be able to develop a business plan, manage costs, drive sales, create a marketing plan, all whilst operating 12 hour days. It was an exhausting but amazing grounding for the rest of my career.
It taught me the importance of a plan. The value in spending time on developing your people and it taught me community.
Community wasn’t something which was ever explained but something which became clearly apparent on day one. “The regulars run this pub” was the first conversation I had with a customer. I wasn’t sure if it was some Mafia style shakedown or baseless bravado, but it was said to me straight while looking into my eyes and without a glimmer of irony.
As time went by and my kneecaps remained intact, that customer’s words rang true. Not in the way I thought, I mean, no one turned up to run a shift or jumped behind the bar to help themselves, but the people that used and loved the pub did determine the pub’s identity and its purpose.
A classic lesson in understanding your market demographic and giving them what they want. All good community businesses need this. An authentic understanding of its people and places in which they operate. Be warned don’t assume you know what people want, ask them and most importantly listen.
I made space for the people in my business those being paid and those paying me. You can never underestimate the customer as pubs and restaurants literally are the collective melting pots of society. When Billy Joel sang about Piano Man, he did it from personal experience. This observation of human behaviour continues to fascinate me. Although to this day I’m not sure what a “real estate novelist” is, and whether Paul actually found time for a wife.
I became part of my community and they in turn mine. We built a sense of belonging, connection and safety which, as any brand person will tell you, are the fundamentals of brilliant businesses. It was so much more than business though. Community always shows up when it matters most. Whenever they need support or want to celebrate the special times in their lives. They show up.
Hospitality shows up for them too. Whenever it’s required the amazing humans who work in this crazy industry show up when called upon. Whether it’s that extra shift to make sure someone’s party goes well or to raise money for local charities, to support the local teams and clubs by giving them a space to meet, or to be there when the worst things happen as a safe place to be or talk. Hospitality people are intuitively experts in human behaviour, of this I’m certain.
Now I mentioned why this sense of community was a personal subject for me and I wanted to explain why.
In crisis communities come together and hospitality always shows up. This has never been so clear and real to me until the devastating and utterly heartbreaking events in Southport happened at the start of what should have been this year’s glorious summer time by the sea.
You see I live in Southport. It is the most fantastically happy place to live. The beach, the funfair, the parks are all generally filled with the sounds of laughter and enjoyment. What happened silenced the town. In these moments of horror community turned up.
Food was made, spaces opened up, warmth and generosity abundant. The hospitality community of this little seaside town turned up in spades and businesses which have already endured so much stepped up to help others and support their community. It was utterly humbling.
I was so proud to hear the stories of places providing food and drink and spaces for everyone to come together and hold each other close. Some of these business, already struggling with summer trade and the uncertainty of visitors for the future just showed up. Without concern for their profit margins or long hours. Hospitality in the community was clearly apparent and always is.
This is why we need to support our whole sector. Our community based operators need love too. Their value, contribution and commitment is no less than anyone else and with the devasting closure numbers of pubs and local food operations at an all-time high we need our community to pull together.
So, my sign off for now is a simple one – community is in all of us. It doesn’t matter if it’s a place in the country, a pub in a village or a huge city centre operation. Find your community, listen to them and learn from them because they will be the ones who will show up when you really need them to.
Kellie
Kellie Rixon MBE FIH, a hospitality girl
