Burhill Team News May 2022
Colin Mayes Chief Executive By the time you read this, we will be in June and well and truly off to the busy summer trading period. As I have mentioned previously the whole group is trading well and slightly ahead of our original plan that we agreed with our General Managers and Directors at the end of last year. To date, all sections of our business have been trading well, golf is having a particularly good time with strong membership renewals and the recent investment in upgrading many of our driving ranges really helping to drive more activity at all our golf venues. I am also delighted to see that food & beverage revenue is also starting to recover from the depth of the Covid period last year. Adventure Leisure has also had a very strong start to the year for the first four months January to April, but this month we have started to see some signs that our customers are starting to hold back their leisure spending which could well impact upon us as we begin another round of school holidays. You will have read and heard the inflation busting news that is now showing inflation at record levels +9% and some financial analysts are predicting inflation will actually rise over 10% by the time we reach July / August.
Trying to keep on top of all the cost price increases we are dealing with is putting a huge strain on our finance, purchasing and admin support teams. We should also remember that we are not alone in dealing/coping with this. I also believe that supply issues will be with us well into next year caused by two key issues, all of which are outside of our own direct control. First being the Covid pandemic, which is still massively affecting the delivery of produce from the Middle and Far Eastern markets and now more recently the terrible war in Ukraine. I am a great believer in only worrying about the things you can control and not wasting time or energy on things that you can have no influence over. So, with that in mind our leadership team has been trying to support our businesses and General Managers on focussing each business on being the best in their local markets. Making sure we are maintaining our facilities and keeping them spotlessly clean for both our members and all our visitors to enjoy. If our members and customers have a great time whilst they are with us, they will tell their friends and family and our repeat business will keep growing.
CEO Update
On a business front we are trying to pass the costs increases on and keeping a very close eye on where we can improve our efficiency so that we can keep them to a minimum. We still have much to be thankful for and we are investing our profits back into growing the business further and with that investment employing and providing opportunities for our people to grow with the business. Examples of this will be our two new business openings before the start of the summer for Adventure Leisure Ltd & Ninja Leisure Ltd. The first at Worcester for a new Mulligans Adventure Golf Business at the top of the High Street close to all the restaurant and bar activity for the city. Then at Swansea for our next Ninja Warrior UK opening on the busiest retail park in the Swansea area. We are very excited about both of these businesses and looking forward to then rolling on with a further two openings for Mulligans, starting in Norwich at the busy Riverside Retail Park close to the Norwich City Football ground. I am delighted to say I was there for the last game of the football season when my team Spurs beat Norwich 5-0 and secured 4th place in the league and a European Champions League place for next season. Whilst I was there, I took the opportunity to visit the area where we will be opening and yet again was delighted to see the whole area packed with families enjoying the facilities at the leisure park.
Then, hopefully, the next Mulligans will be open in Bristol by the end of the year at a unit within the leisure section of the busy Cribbs Causeway Retail Park on the edge of the city and not to far away from our existing Thornbury Golf Centre. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, we are going to need well trained and competent people in these new businesses and with this expansion comes new opportunities for all that are willing to move and be flexible. On the subject of new and competent people I am also delighted to welcome on board some new faces to the central support team who you will read about later on in the people section. We also have a couple of our senior people moving on to take up new career opportunities having been with us quite a long-time being Andrew McNamara our Golf Division Management Accountant and Sophie Burke, Group Head of Marketing. They have both done a great job for us over their long tenure helping shape and improve our business performance and we wish them all the best in their new roles. I am very confident that as a business we are in a good place with five months of trading behind us, and hopefully a very busy summer in front of us.
CEO Update
One of my more enjoyable aspects of my job is along with Guy and Jim we hosted the General Managers of the Golf Division to an educational wine trip to Italy with our wine supplier Enotria for a couple of days recently. We visited our Prosecco supplier Ruggeri who have been a family business for over 70 years and enjoyed a visit to their wonderful vineyards in the foothills of the Alps in the Venato region of Italy and then later at their offices and production facilities for tasting the product and lessons to widen our wine knowledge. As you can imagine a good time was had by all and our wine supplier Marek and our hosts at Ruggeri had the opportunity to talk about our joint businesses for the benefit of us all. We were also blessed with fine weather which made the trip even more enjoyable for all.
On a personal note, I have been struggling to get out on my bike as much as I would have liked this last month and know I need to start getting some miles in so I can get from Burhill to Paris in one piece in September. We will be starting the fundraising for this at our company suppliers golf day being held at Burhill later in June. Kirstie my wife was out on her bike last weekend with a friend who is also doing the ride, so already there is a tad of competitive tension starting at home!!! With the two new business openings coming and a number of other discussions/new opportunities being followed up we are going to have a very busy summer. Thank you for all your hard work to date and your contribution to our success so far this year and I look forward to seeing you in the business. Warmest regards
Colin Mayes Chief Executive
Performance Management Day 2 saw my delivery of better understanding of the formal processes of Grievance and Disciplinaries, including how to approach the investigation stages and how to take meeting notes. These basic skills were bolstered with information on the what and what not to dos during a formal process. I think it is safe to say that these sessions were eye opening and a little startling for those with minimal knowledge before the course.
Claire Boulden Performance Management & Employee Relations Skills Training. On Monday and Tuesday (16th and 17th May), Janice and I were delighted to welcome our first group of delegates to a brand new live instructor led course, Performance Management & Employee Relations Skills. We were hosted with a warm welcome and lots of attention by the fabulous team at Hoebridge, and the course appears to have been well received with lots of positive comments from our delegates. The purpose of the course is to bring to life the reality of day-to-day management of our people. On day 1 Janice posed a very relevant question: What are the challenges of managing your teams? One of the overwhelming issues was vocalised by many as lack of time during busy operational days – where does it fit in? Janice continued to then deliver an excellent session on time management, how to organise your day and decide what is important but not urgent, urgent but not important – you get the drift!!! The honest responses to admitting to sometimes not managing in the moment because of either not really understanding what to do and not having the time, highlight an area of the business that we must all seek to improve on to ensure robust and consistent management of our teams – don’t forget, the positives are as, if not more, important than the negatives. An engaged and motivated team is a high performing one.
Our delegates have been asked to go back to their respective locations and debrief with their GM’s on what they found useful on the course and to seek the support they need with their post course objectives of putting it all into practice. We are running a further 3 courses in June for our operations teams, another course for our Head Greenkeepers in November and our support office managers are scheduled to receive the training later in the summer. A huge thank you to Janice for her exceptional effort in writing the course and her delivery of it – and more thanks to all our delegates who contributed so well which ensured we had a lot of fun too over the 2 days. I look forward to seeing many more of you in June.
Coming Soon: Ninja Warrior UK Swansea
The latest Ninja Warrior UK venue is coming to Swansea! July will see the opening of BGL’s fourth Ninja Warrior UK Adventure Park in Swansea. The venue will join our existing venues BUNKERS! in Swansea. The venue will feature incredible ninja obstacle runs and a giant ninja inflatble course. Plus an incredible cafe and mezzanine spectators area. Plus, extra special VIP & Football legend, Chris Kamara “Kammy” will be on hand for the launch night to add that extra special bit of commentary and greet guests. As you’re reading this our giant inflatable pictured on the right, is sailing across The Atlantic on its way to Swansea! As many people know, Ninja Warrior UK is one of the most popular physical prime-time TV game shows ever and, with season six coming back to our screens this summer, we’re thrilled to also be launching our next Ninja Warrior UK Adventure Park. “Swansea holds a special place for us with our Bunkers! site successfully operating there, so we are thrilled to open another venue in Swansea, and indeed Wales, providing even more amazing experiences for friends, families, and students to enjoy!” - Sophie Burke, Group Head of Marketing We can’t wait to see what the future holds for the latest Ninja Warrior UK venue!
Coming Soon: Mulligans Worcester Mulligans is coming to Worcester! July will see the opening of BGL’s thirteenth venue in the Mulligans brand. The latest Mulligans venue will include two brand new, 12-hole crazy golf courses with never before seen designs along with electro-darts, shuffleboard, ping pong, pool, an arcade and an incredible bar & restaurant. Based in an old DW fitness store on Worcester High Street, build began in May to get the ready for a July launch. You can see some of the artwork being created in the pictures on the right! “We are counting down the days until we can open our doors in Worcester. The team are working hard to be open in July just in time for school holiday fun and a summer packed full of activities for everyone. We’re going to have a great bar serving up cocktails and delicious food, student nights and lots of entertainment including crazy golf, electro-darts, ping pong and more.” - Sophie Burke, Group Head of Marketing Equally we are looking for team members to join us on this exciting journey so anyone interested in working somewhere fun, rewarding and with fantastic career development, should send their CV to: manager. worcester@mrmulligan.com - don’t ‘fore’get if you refer a friend there is £250 up for grabs upon a successful completetion of their probationary period. We can’t wait to show you the latest Mulligans venue when it opens in July, keep watching for more updates!
Sprucing Up Without The Spruces With the sun out and the season kicking off in earnest, Redbourn is now well under way of giving itself a bit of a green face lift. With strong winds not so long ago knocking down one of our fences that separated a slightly sloped carpark with the 10th tee, it offered a great opportunity for a careless driver to leave their hand break off and flatten one of our golfers who was looking to recover from a less than ideal front nine.
the clubhouse and a soak away pit added to help maintenance of the surrounding area. With that comes more chance for planting and a Photinia hedge along the new flower bed that, whose common name quite aptly is Red Robin, a legacy I will leave forever if my probation doesn’t work out too well…
Instead of putting a fence back up however we have decided to put in a full-length copper beech hedge that will still offer great views down the stripped-up 10th fairway, but also soften the area up and return in partly back to nature. Plans are now to add some sleepers to stop those careless drivers, who still leave off their hand break, from now flattening our hedge before then flattening the golfer.
Our chefs were quick to jump on the extra space and plant a small herb bed (all legal), in order to be just that little bit more self sufficient and offer a nice fragrance for members as well as the knowledge that a lot of the flavour of what’s going into their food, comes from literally a couple of feet away.
Installation of an irrigation system has allowed us to plant this hedge, as well as 2 others around the site, and get water to them with an ever rising daily Another outing has been promised to some team temperature. members to the local garden centre in order to Also, some sculpted topiary and bay trees out the properly fill up the rest of the bed. front, help mask the brick facade of the building. With the staff well on board with keeping them watered, it offers nice way to de-compress for 10 minutes while showing not only the members, but the other staff as well that they take pride in our club.
With the irrigation for all this taken care of, the biggest issue we face is finding somewhere in the P&L for it. If only there was a section for future, intangible investment.
Robin Cheng, A capital project that has just been completed Redbourn General Manager in the re-sculpting of the bank behind the 18th green as well as re-instating of the pathway up to
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Abbey Hill Save A Life! On Thursday 5th May the team at Abbey Hill were alerted to a member who had suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the course. The member was unconscious and not breathing at the time of the call. Thanks to the team members quick and efficient response and other club members support, the team were able to ensure the golfers safety. A massive well done to Chris Mayhew, Stuart Dunbar, Alex Mendoza, Ross Edmonds & the team at Abbey Hill for their wonderful work. Russell Heady, General Manager at Abbey Hill has provided some key considerations for staff to handle similar incidents at their sites: •
Do you have a first aider on shift at all times?
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How could a golfer on the course contact your staff urgently to ask for help – An Emergency number on each hole sign and on the scorecard are 2 great ideas. We will be putting the pro shop number as this also diverts to the office if they are not available.
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Make sure a ringing phone is always answered.
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Do you have a defibrillator and is it checked regularly for good working order – battery and pads etc.
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Have your staff all been shown your defibrillator and shown how to use that model.
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Could you get a second defib and keep it on the marshal buggy for quick access to the golf courses?
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How would you get the defib to each part of your course in the quickest possible time?
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Do you always have radio contact with your marshals?
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How would the emergency services get onto your courses to get to a casualty? Do all your staff know the emergency action plan?
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Where could a helicopter land safely on each of your holes.
• • Ensure relatives are contacted as soon as possible and updated on where the casualty is being taken. • • Closing the rest of the course helps, or at least that section as you don’t want lots of people stood around watching and in the way. • • It’s not easy for staff to witness or be involved in these incidents. Make sure they are all okay and know there’s people they can talk to. We have the new EAP Assistance programme which is great. • • Contacting a relative for an update helps to update all your team involved who will be keen to learn the casualty’s condition. • • A piece in your next newsletter reminding golfers to take it easy and tell someone if feeling unwell, to keep well hydrated and to save the best emergency clubhouse number in their phone in case they need to get help.
Meet the Team: Jaspal Singh they run smoothly, ensuring that their special days run to plan and help them make memories to keep forever. BGL: What is your typical day like at Birchwood Park? JASPAL: Everyday Is different, some days are very challenging, but we work together to make each day a success. A typical day involves being in the office organising the team and rotas, making sure everyone is compliant with their training. Getting things ready for events and ensuring menus are up to date, all orders and invoices are complete on time. I enjoy liaising with customers and queries to give the best experience possible.
This month’s meet the team is: Jaspal Singh, Food & Bevrage Manager at Birchwood Park.
BGL: What’s your current role and how long have you been with BGL? JASPAL: Food & Beverage Manager and Birchwood Park. I joined the company In October 2016 so a little over 5 and a half years. BGL: What was the journey to where you are now? Previous roles? JASPAL: Having moved from India to Ireland in 2002, I did a diploma in Hospitality Management in Griffith College, Dublin. I then moved to England in 2005 where I worked with Intercontinental Hotels as a supervisor, before progressing to Catering Manager for 7 years. I then went to work at Bromley Court Hotel as Food & Beverage Manager for 3 years before joining BGL at Birchwood in 2016. BGL: In 3 words describe your job? JASPAL: Challenging, Rewarding, Organisation BGL: What’s your favourite part about working in the BGL Group? JASPAL: Wedding and Events, making sure
BGL: What is your favourite highlight of Birchwood/Support Office? JASPAL: Working with the team here at Birchwood. BGL: What’s the best thing you have achieved since being here? JASPAL: My children are my biggest achievement. I have 2 boys, Guri who has just turned 7 and Jaskirat who will be 1 in July. BGL: What are some of your hobbies outside of work? JASPAL: All of my spare time outside of work is taken up with my family. Usually spent taking Guri on bike rides or watching cricket. BGL: What would your “death row meal” be? Starter, Main and Dessert? JASPAL: King Prawns in garlic and chilli to start. Followed by herb crusted rack of lamb with steamed vegetables and a garlic butter. Then my favourite, sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream. All washed down with a nice cold scotch on the rocks.
Your Key to Success 2. Listen more than you talk.
Active listening allows you to fully grasp another point of view, making it easier to question your own assumptions and biases.
3. Avoid asking yes/no questions.
Instead use open questions to try to get the respondent to open up at length. “Tell me about …” “What are your thoughts regarding …”
4. Consider the counterintuitive. Could asking questions be core to your success? No matter what your role is within BGL, critical thinking (the ability to effectively break down and analyze an issue in order to find a solution) will be core to your success. And at the heart of critical thinking is the ability to formulate effective questions. Here are a few ways to boost your ability to do this.
1. Hold your initial thoughts on a matter loosely.
Good questions can lead you to fundamentally reconsider your initial assumptions — but you have to be willing to hear the answers without defensiveness.
Every group needs someone who’s unafraid to professionally challenge the status quo. Be that person.
5. Sleep on it.
A good night’s rest can actually help your brain see a situation differently. (Adapted from “Critical Thinking Is About Asking Better Questions,” by John Coleman)
Try the following courses in The Academy to improve your skills in this area: • Creative Thinking Skills • Creative Problem Solving • Asking Tough Questions • Communicating Effectively And if you haven’t already done so, download the App to access the above courses (and hundreds more!). Go to the App store and search for SAP Litmos (aka The Academy). When prompted for domain, enter: bglacademy Then enter your Username and Password.
Meet Wycombe’s New Range Manager Congratulations to Jack McDonagh who has been promoted to Driving Range Manager. Jack has worked so hard to make sure the driving range at Wycombe Heights is a success, ever since Toptracer was introduced in 2019. It wasn’t only his commitment and front of house customer service which helped him secure this position, but everything he does behind the scenes. Jack works tirelessly to make sure standards are high, targets are hit and the rest of the range team are happy. The range bar and Trackman is now fully fitted and now is the perfect time to have someone lead the department as we know this is one of the most profitable areas of the business. Well done Jack, we look forward to seeing the driving range at Wycombe continue to thrive.
New Addition at Abbey Hill’s Mr Mulligans! Abbey Hill’s Mr Mulligans Pirate Golf has been undergoing some rennovations. Including a fantastic new hole, featuring a brand new team member! Abbey’s new team member is currently awaiting a new name, with a competition being held amongst crazy golf players in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to find out Mr Whale’s name!
Congratulations We’d like to say a huge congratulations & thank you to our amazing BGL team members who are celebrating 5+ years with us this May! It wouldn’t be the same without you. Mark Knight, Hoebridge GC, 36 years Annette Danks, Birchwood Park, 20 years Sharon Whiting, Redbourn GC, 19 years Paul Dawkins, BGL Estates, 17 years Bradford Rehling, Birchwood Park, 11 years Mark Beetlestone, Shropshire GC, 11 years Lukasz Chachula, Burhill Golf Club, 9 years Tracey Howes, Birchwood Park, 8 years Nicola Goodwin, Abbey Hill GC, 8 years Thomas Day, Wycombe Heights GC, 7 years David Hanlon, Burhill Golf Club, 7 years
Oliver Rundle, Burhill Golf Club, 7 years Gordon Sandilands, Abbey Hill GC, 7 years Stephen Norton, Birchwood Park, 6 years Gemma White, Wycombe Heights, 6 years Danielle Wilson, Mr Mulligans Stevenage, 6 years Donna Smith, The Shropshire, 6 years Adrian Busby, The Shropshire, 6 years Theresa Plimmer, Ramsdale Park GC, 5 years Tim Flint, Mr Mulligans Tonbridge, 5 years Alistair Booth, Support Office, 5 years
Burhill - Paris Charity Bike Ride For Ukraine We are currently in the process of organising a charity bike ride from Burhill Golf Club to Paris on Friday 2nd to Monday 5th September which will raise money for the Ukraine support fund through the Red Cross. The ride will cover approximately 180-200 miles! In order to maximise our reach and fundraising potential, it would be fantastic if as many sites as possible could supply a rider to join us on the journey! We are also looking for volunteers to help provide support to the team. It promises to be great fun and will support a very worthwhile cause. Also a great opportunity to take advantage of the company Ride2Work scheme if you need to purchase a new bike! Please can you let me know before Friday 10th June if you or a member of your team would like to join us on this adventure as we need to begin planning the accommodation which will be paid for by the company.
For more info please email either: Stuart Perry General Manager, The Shropshire s.perry@theshropshire.co.uk Ian Mcdowell General Manager, Aldwickbury Park i.mcdowell@aldwickburyparkgolfclub.co.uk To donate we are setting up a just giving page for the team and will let you know those details in next month’s newsletter.
New Starters At Support Office.
Name: Rebecca Smith
Name: Oli Evans
Role: Cashiering Accounts Assistant Adventure Leisure & Ninja Leisure
Role: Marketing Executive Adventure Leisure & Ninja Leisure
Started: March 2022
Started: May 2022
Interesting Fact: I have skydived over The Palm in Dubai. I am also currently studying for gain my ACCA qualification.
Interesting Fact: Played in the same golf team as Tom Holland (Spider-Man).
Name: Dean Travis
Name: Alec Mumford
Role: Systems Supervisor
Role: Project Manager Adventure Leisure & Ninja Leisure
Started: May 2022 Interesting Fact: Dean forgot to give Marketing the information before going on holiday.
Started: March 2022 Interesting Fact: Alec enjoys skiing in the dessert, this may or may not be true...