Kew Green Hotels brochure – 2018

K E W G R E E N H OT E L S :

DELIVERING T H E O U T S TA N D I N G

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H O W O U T S TA N D I N G FOOD AND DRINK CAN ENHANCE THE CU STO M E R E XPE RI E N C E 03

WRIT TEN BY

ANDRE W WOODS PRODUCED BY

BROGAN BAGGOT T

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A leading hotel management company, Kew Green Hotels has a portfolio of 55 establishments across the UK and prides itself on offering operational excellence, strong revenue development and successful profit delivery.

We speak to Abby Hughes, Group Food & Beverage Director across the company’s various concerns, with regards to her aim of delivering outstanding food and drink to all Kew Green’s brands

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ith such a varied portfolio of brands, Kew Green Hotels tailors bespoke offerings to each and every property

“We don’t have a ‘one shoe fits all’ approach,” Abby explains. “It is important to us that we actually look at each hotel individually in terms of the food and beverage offering to ensure we exceed our guest’s expectations, whilst driving revenue generation and profit conversion. Essentially, I drive quality initiatives and standards in all areas of our operation focusing on delivering an outstanding food and beverage experience.

“One of the first things we looked at was our Cow on the Hill ‘steak restaurant concept’

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which launched in six of our hotels during

further, focusing on the local area and

2017. We assessed the offering to see

direct competition. Many of our guests

how we could develop the menus to fit

stay in our hotels three or four nights a

with our guest profile. Our burger and

week and they wouldn’t want to eat steak

craft beer concept, Stock Burger, based

or a burger every night of their stay, with

at our Holiday Inn Brighton – Seafront,

this in mind, we developed our concept

did well in the first year (it picked up a

restaurant menus to offer more variety.”

Food and Beverage Excellence Award),

So, how does Kew Green Hotels

but was underperforming slightly when

develop their concepts to offer guests

I took over,” says Hughes. “We worked on

more flexibility?

enhancing the concept and developing it

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“A lot of my role involves implementing

a food and beverage offering, which fits

training was working for us. We ensure

with the hotels individuality and profile.

the staff are behind the brand, the

We ensure that our menus are updated

concept and they understand the

and redeveloped on a seasonal basis,

reasons behind it, rather than just being

avoiding menu fatigue and staying in line

people who happen to be skilled in that

with current trends.”

service. We want passion around the

Training is integral to any restaurant

food we’re delivering and to differentiate

experience and it represents an area that

the restaurant concepts from the

Kew Green Hotels is looking to fully

standard hotel F&B”

capitalise on. “We took a good look at service standards to ensure our staff

“People are key to delivering outstanding experiences and to our continued

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BIO

Abby Hughes Group Food & Beverage Director

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Abby was appointed as Group Food & Beverage Director in 2018, with responsibility for the development of food and beverage operations across the expanding business. Abby has previously held operational roles across diverse sectors of the hospitality industry and has a wealth of commercial experience spanning across hotels, restaurants, bars and contract catering. She is passionate about driving the highest standards within the food and beverage operations in Kew Green Hotels in order to enhance the overall guest experience. Her focus is on developing new and existing brands and concepts utilising her vast knowledge of the industry and food and beverage trends.

“It is important to us that we actually look at each hotel individually in terms of the food and beverage offering to ensure we exceed our guest’s expectations” — Abby Hughes, Group F&B Director

success. We are a very peoplefocused company and have a lot of talented people, which we recognise and reward for all their hard work. Our industry-leading learning and development program attracts the best people to work for us, obviously, working with key hotel brands such as IHG, Marriott and Hilton, does in itself attract skilled, talented people. We have also launched a unique chef’s apprentice scheme, Chef School, which works on three levels: foundation, intermediate and advanced, working through the levels you

could expect to become a head chef in five years. Chef School gives our chefs the opportunity to gain vital skills, attend field-to-fork talk experiences and take part in interactive and skill-based classes.

They arrive as apprentices and leave as head chefs, working through our hotels.

We are launching our next Chef School in September, as chef recruitment continues to be a challenging market.”

With 55 hotels situated throughout the UK, Hughes needs to ensure that the hotels enjoy a trusted relationship with w w w. k e w g r e e n . c o . u k

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Power your day with Purdey’s Multivitamin Energy.

In a busy world, it can be hard to stay on track. But why bother with the nasty ingredients and synthetic flavours of standard energy drinks when you can get a gentle lift from Purdey’s Rejuvenate & Edge.

A sparkling blend of natural fruit juices, spring water and vitamins, the liquid in this can takes its complex flavour from three botanical ingredients: damiana, oak bark and Chinese ginseng. Rejuvenate is based on Grape & apple juice, whereas Edge contains Sloe & Blackberry juice.

“It’s all about the blend of botanicals,” says Sarah de la Mare, Senior Brand Manager of Purdey’s.

In fact, these botanicals are part of why Purdey’s is an unexpectedly amazing mixer for gin.

As Sarah explains, “The ginseng from Purdey’s mixed with the juniper in gin creates a unique, spicy flavour, while the damiana and oak bark combine with orris root, a botanical created from iris roots that’s very commonly used in gin, to create a very specific, delicate sweetness.”

released by the vitamins C, B2, B3, B6 and B12.”

It’s the perfect amount of lift to get you through the hardest part of your day, be it getting out of bed on Monday morning or powering through the post-lunch slump, to help you achieve more than you thought possible.

It’s a message that resonates in a busy world – so much so, in fact, that Purdey’s has teamed up with Hollywood actor Idris Elba for a number of campaigns designed to inspire.

In the latest, ‘Everything You Need Is Inside’, Idris encourages and inspires us to get out of our comfort zones (with a little help from the vitamins and botanicals in Purdey’s!).

As Idris says, “I’ve always been a strong believer that when you believe in yourself, you’re halfway there. Everything You Need Is Inside is about being good to yourself, supporting yourself inside and out”.

Purdey’s Secret Garden 165ml Purdey’s 50ml gin 1/2 fresh lime, juiced 4 rose petals 6 sage leaves

Excellent mixed with gin, Purdey’s is also a fabulous drink on its own. Not only do the botanicals taste great, but, working together with vitamins, do a cracking job of giving your brain and body a gentle boost – but all without the odd concoctions and unnatural ingredients so often found in energy drinks.

Sarah says, “It doesn’t include all of the bad elements that other energy drinks contain, like taurine, high caffeine content or artificial flavourings. Instead, all Purdey’s energy is

r.

“ People are key to delivering outstanding experiences and to our continued success. We are a very people-focused company and have a lot of talented people, which we recognise and reward for all their hard work” — Abby Hughes, Group F&B Director

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their suppliers. “We work very closely

looking at reducing plastic within our

with our suppliers in terms of infrastruc-

hotels, sourcing alternative products for

ture and future menu development

straws and takeaway cups. We, along

ensuring we are not only ahead of the

with a lot of the other hotels, intend to be

game but that they are able to supply new

free of plastic straws in the very near

hotels and concepts we are creating,”

future. Reducing our carbon footprint is

she explains. “It is about being in

also on our radar, our suppliers and have

partnerships that have contingency

cut back on deliveries by about 30% in

plans, we have seen interruptions to

the past year. In terms of sustainability,

service with CO2 and vegetable crop

there are two elements, ensuring our

shortages, but our suppliers work at

CSR whilst working with suppliers to

finding alternative and effective supply

safeguard supply chains.

routes and markets.”

As with every sector now, sustainability is a hot issue for KGH. “We have been

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FACTS

• I n 2015 Kew Green Hotels was acquired by HK CTS Metropark Hotels Co Ltd, China’s largest travel corporation.

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• The China National Travel Service Group Corporation (CTS Group) is China’s largest and oldest stateowned enterprise under the direction of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, with travel business at its core.

• Kew Green are their first overseas hotel platform and CTS are now working closely with the Kew Green Management Team to expand the business in UK and Europe.

• I n addition, Kew Green is assisting CTS with the rollout of Kew Green China and the knowledge sharing between key individuals, including some fantastic opportunities for our employees.

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from a food side. We have been working with Britvic, who supply the majority of our soft drinks, on reducing sugar content and promoting healthier choices.

We are also launching a range of Purdey’s soft drinks, which are a new brand for our properties, to offer guests a more grown-up soft drink alternative, a trend which has been growing in recent years, and looks set to continue.”

With a large portfolio of proper14

ties, analysing data is essential to Kew Green Hotels success. “We have a very solid analytics team, based at our Commercial hub, who continually analyse and react to our data, and work closely with our sales and marketing teams. On the F&B side, some of our key KPIs are

geographically, and adapted the F&B

driven through the data reported

team, making sure our hotels had the

back to us on a weekly basis.”

support they needed. So that has been

The growth of Kew Green Hotels

quite a challenge, in ensuring that we’ve

requires a team that can adapt

got an infrastructure that can flex to the

quickly to an ever-shifting portfolio.

needs and the growth of the business,

“We have expanded quite a lot

which is essential as there are huge

recently,” Abby explains. “Six Hilton

projects ongoing with the Hiltons at

Hotels joined our portfolio in March

the moment.”

2018, this meant we expanded

What does the future hold for food

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and beverage at Kew Green Hotels? “Our business is constantly evolving, we cannot stay still in a competitive market. We have seen the recent challenges in casual dining, and it is important not to be complacent. Our teams are currently working on new products and concept development, alongside introducing new brands into our portfolio before the end of the year. Ultimately we want to offer the very best food and beverage experience to our guests in all of our hotels.�

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1 Towers Place Richmond Surrey, TW9 1EG United Kingdom T +0208 334 4830 E info@kewgreen.co.uk www.kewgreen.co.uk