Hotel and Restaurant Times April/May 2017

APRIL/MAY ‘17

€3.65

T H E B U S I N E S S P U B L I C AT I O N F O R T H E H OT E L A N D R E S TAU R A N T I N D U S T R Y

Pat McCann Dalata From porter to CEO

COUPONS

Are they worth it?

INSURANCE CLAIMS

Out of control.

COELIAC

Not just a fad.

www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

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COVER: Pat McCann - CEO Dalata Hotel Group

Contents

Editorial 4 News

5

Appointments 10 Pat McCann - it’s all about the people

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Compensation culture

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Creating a Coeliac friendly dining experience

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Meitheal delivers once again

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FoodService Academy selection

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It’s a deal... but is it worth it?

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GMIT 25 Tourism Ireland

26

Tallaght IT

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RAI Food 4 Thought

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Guestline & Tierney’s host hospitality event

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Bookassist 34 Fáilte News

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DIT 38 The Corscadden Dynasty

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Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links

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Social media dining

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John Duffy Design

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Accessiblity - levelling the field

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IFSA 54 AA Awards

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Natural gas - the cheaper, faster solution for your business

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Hotel & Restaurant Times is circulated on subscription to Chief Executives, Directors and Proprietors of Hotels and Restaurants in Ireland along with Architects, Interior Designers and Suppliers to the Hotel and Restaurant Industry.

Managing Editor: Cyril McAree (01-6285447, cyril@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie) Contributors: Pavel Barter, Dr Des O’Mahony, Susan Clarke, Conor Power, Fáilte Ireland, IFSA, Tourism Ireland, Tallaght IT, Frank Corr, Restaurants Association of Ireland.

Graphic Design: Tara Mccormack Printing: Turners of Longford

ALL CONTENTS OF THE MAGAZINE ARE COPYRIGHT OF HOTEL & RESTAURANT TIMES. H&R HOUSE, CARTON COURT, MAYNOOTH, CO.KILDARE TEL/FAX: 01 6285447 EMAIL: editorial@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie WEB: www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

All paper used in the production of this magazine comes from certifiably sustainable forestry.

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editorial

Votes of confidence As we go to press it has just been announced that a general election has been called in the UK for June 8. Given all the concerns about Brexit this may be a lifeline of sorts. The implication could be that it will be five years before the UK leaves the EU, and those within the UK seeking closer bonds with Europe as part of the exit negotiations may get their chance to be heard. The UK government seems to be kicking the can down the road, but this opportunity for the Remainers to have their say could be to the advantage of Ireland in the long term.

editorial

At a recent event, hosted and organised by Unilever Food Solutions, in conjunction with the Coeliac Society of Ireland, the issue of gluten was to the fore. The dietary requirements of those living with Coeliac brought up interesting facts and findings. Recent diet fads, prompted by so called celebs, have created a nightmare for restaurants and hoteliers.

The rush to gluten-free produce and so-called lifestyle dining has muddied the water. Coeliac disorder is a serious and life restricting matter. With this in mind, Unilever created a guide for caterers to be informed and prepared. There are an estimated 47,000 sufferers in Ireland alone. These figures are worth noting: it’s a sizeable demographic. Check out the website ufs.com/glutenfree for further information.

Dalata hotels are one of the country’s success stories. Created during the financial crisis, they have become the single largest listed hotel PLC and the largest hospitality group here in Ireland. With that in mind, you might think they are an aggressive, single-minded operation, with little regard for small players. How wrong you would be.

Dalata, in fact, encourage their food and beverage representatives to nurture relationships with artisan producers all over the country. The company has management incentives, through which future GMs and key management personal are indentified and supported. This is evident in the fact Dalata has secured all its key management for a hotel opening in Dublin in early 2018. We need more companies in Ireland with such work ethic and sourcing ethos.

One sour note is that of our compensation culture. Recently a court awarded a woman €20,000 for banging her knee off a table in an hotel. Suffice to say, it sent shockwaves throughout the industry.

For hoteliers and restaurateurs, this case illustrated a compo culture gone crazy. In 2015, 18,992 new personal injury suits were filed in the District, Circuit and High Court, amounting to a 7% increase on 2014.

While insurance claims have long been rife in the motor car industry, they are now engulfing hospitality businesses too. The signs are this is becoming more and more commonplace within the sector. It is up to our legislators to tackle this issue and put in place the proper legalisation to discourage compensation culture. It’s time to stop the gravy train before it results in business closing due to crippling insurance costs.

Cyril McAree editor

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news

NEWS G&T time

The 5 star InterContinental Dublin has reimagined afternoon tea with its new G&Tea menu, gininfused delights in the Reading Room.

Guests are welcomed with a choice of gin cocktails served in a glass teapot. Choices include Crafted Cocktail, a version of the classic G&T, or the Tanqueray Infused Earl Grey Tea, with hints of pimento peppercorn and lime peel. www.intercontinentaldublin.ie

History in the making Fáilte Ireland has marked the completion of improvement works at Castle Saunderson, Belturbet, Co. Cavan. The project was grant-aided with over €60,000 from Fáilte Ireland’s New Ideas in Ancient Spaces scheme, a capital investment initiative focused on the development of visitor experiences throughout the Ireland’s Ancient East region.

Surf’s up A group of top travel and lifestyle journalists from Canada has been enjoying a fact-finding visit in Clare and Galway, as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. Pictured enjoying a surf lesson at Lahinch: John McCarthy, Lahinch Surf School (front), with (from left) Jocelyn Black, Tourism Ireland; Ellen Redmond, Fáilte Ireland; and Canadian journalists Doug O’Neill, Hannah Logan and Dino Harambasic.

Mount Juliet where for art thou Mount Juliet Estate is now sponsoring Thomastown Hurling Team. Pictured is Christine Murphy, General Manager Mount Juliet Estate, presents Ray Challoner, Joint minor manager of Thomastown Hurling Team, and Jonjo Farrell, Kilkenny Senior, and Thomastown Intermediate Hurler, with newly branded team shirts.

Wild Atlantic Way champions for Kerry Almost 20 tourism representatives from Kerry are among the first Wild Atlantic Way Champions of 2017 to have completed a new Fáilte Ireland initiative. The Wild Atlantic Way Champions Programme, designed by Fáilte Ireland, is for front line staff to enhance their knowledge of the Wild Atlantic Way. Declan Murphy from Fáilte Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way team said “The Wild Atlantic Way Champions Programme was designed to help tourism businesses improve the visitor experience.”

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news

Lucky 10 Sustainably-grown seaweed, whiskey-flavoured popcorn, and gluten-free fresh chilli sauce are some of the products selected to join this year’s FoodService Academy. Run

by Bord Bia and Musgrave MarketPlace, the programme aims to help participants grow sales within the foodservice, or out of home food, market. Ten companies were selected for the Academy.

Re-Joyce for hotel leader Patrick Joyce, General Manager of the Morrison Hotel, situated on Dublin’s Ormond Quay, was recently announced as the winner of the Leader of the Year Award for 2016 across the DoubleTree by Hilton brand for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

This accolade recognised Patrick’s work as the best of the 98 hotels in the DoubleTree by Hilton brand.

More power to new audio guides The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, has launched multi-lingual audio guides at Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow. The guides are available in five languages (English, Chinese, German, Spanish and French) and narrated by the families and owners of Powerscourt: Anthony Wingfield, 11th Lord Powerscourt, and the third generation of the Slazenger family to manage the Estate and Gardens, cousins Sarah and Alex Slazenger.

Pictured are Alex Slazenger, Head Gardener and Sarah Slazenger, Managing Director, Powerscourt Estate; Shane Ross, TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport; Andrew Doyle, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for forestry; Anthony Wingfield, Lord Powerscourt and Jenny DeSaulles, Head of Ireland’s Ancient East with Fáilte Ireland.

Kerr blimey

Colm Kerr L-IPPA has been triple nominated in the Bank of Ireland IPPA Awards under Architectural, Commercial and Fine Art Photographer of the Year 2017. A full time commercial photographer to the hospitality industry, Colm submitted images from commercial shoots at Ashford Castle, The Lodge at Ashford, Carlton Dublin Airport and The Killeshin Hotel. The awards ceremony will take place in Carton House Hotel on Sunday 7 May 2017. For further details on Colm’s photography, visit colmkerrphotography.com

PREM Group to manage Carnegie Court Hotel PREM Group, one of Ireland’s hotel management company, has been appointed to manage the Carnegie Court Hotel, Swords, in a five year agreement announced today by the hotel’s owners, David and Mary Grant. The 36-room hotel, which is home to the popular Harp Bar, will continue to operate as usual with all existing staff.

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news

Chef ambassadors announced Chef Network, the professional network for chefs across Ireland, has launched the Chef Network Student Ambassador Programme in collaboration with Calor Gas. The initiative will see college students across Ireland engage with industry, network with professional chefs and participate in educational activities, all to promote and encourage the professional development of student chefs. Pictured is Larry Smith, Calor Gas Sales representative, and Ruth Hegarty, Head of Community, Chef Network, with two Chef Network student programme ambassadors at CATEX 2017.

True Blu Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Dublin was awarded Best 4 Star Hotel at the 27th CIE Tours International Awards for Excellence.

The award, which was one of thirteen overall category winners from around the country, was chosen according to customer feedback. A total of 99 winners including hotels, entertainment venues and tourist destinations received awards ranging from Best 5 Star Hotel to a national heritage award.

Nicaraguan coffee farmers visit New Aramark deputy in town Frank Gleeson, Region Managing Director and COO at Aramark Northern Europe, pictured with coffee farmer Haris Ulises Lopez Picado. Aramark welcomed coffee farmers from the Fairtrade coffee co-operative Soppexcca to its offices in Dublin. The visit, arranged by Bewley’s, was in recognition of Aramark’s support of Fairtrade. Bewley’s have announced that all of its branded fresh coffee will be moving to 100% Fairtrade in 2017. One of Bewley’s biggest customers, Aramark, has been a vital part of that journey.

One of Ireland’s leading consumer and corporate PR agencies, Walsh:PR has announced the appointment of Maeve Governey as Deputy Managing Director. Maeve joined Walsh:PR in 2014 as a client service director. She previously held senior positions in a number of other Irish PR agencies as well as managing her own business.

Gluten-Free Made Simple for the Foodservice Industry in Ireland

Unilever Food Solutions launched Ireland’s first foodservice Gluten-Free Guide in association with The Coeliac Society of Ireland and showcased the newly launched KNORR Jelly Bouillon.

Gluten-free is a growing challenge for the Irish foodservice industry, both as a dietary lifestyle choice but more significantly as an essential concern when catering for those who live with coeliac disease. A strict gluten-free diet is the only treatment for coeliac disease, even a small amount of gluten can make someone with the disease very ill. Industry research carried out by Unilever Food Solutions found that 70% of Irish professional chefs saw an increase in demand in gluten-free dining over the past two years. Fergal O’Sullivan, CEO of Coeliac Society of Ireland said: “There are 47,500 people living with coeliac disease in Ireland and the only way they can manage their condition is to ensure they maintain a Gluten-free diet. However, chefs stated they seek recipe inspiration and a better understanding of coeliac disease. Unilever Food Solutions has launched the KNORR Gluten-Free Guide in association with the Coeliac Society of Ireland. The guide is available to download free of charge at ufs.com/ glutenfree. Jim Reeves, Customer Director Ireland at Unilever Food Solutions commented: “We are delighted to bring the unique KNORR Gluten-Free guide to the Irish Foodservice Industry with the help of our partner, the Coeliac Society of Ireland.

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news

One for Ireland

Decade in the making The Maritime Hotel in Bantry recently celebrated its tenth birthday with a weekend of festivities and events to mark the occasion.

One for Ireland has announced a new partnership with the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) for their 2017 fundraising campaign taking place over the May Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 28th April – Monday 1st May). The RAI have come on board to encourage hotels, restaurants and cafés across Ireland to participate in raising funds for young people in Ireland. This year’s campaign is focusing on the growing epidemic of mental health issues among Irish young people. Members of the RAI nationwide are encouraged to allow customers to add €1 to their bill across the four days of the May Bank Holiday.

Nicole Lynch wheeled in Reading between the for Flogas lines with Musgrave Yohana Munoz and Alina Camps, pictured at the Musgrave MarketPlace’s Food Stories event in March. The event offered a unique insight into the success stories of John Relihan, chef and owner of Holy Smoke in Cork, and Ronan Greaney, chef and owner of the Dough Bros in Galway. The two highlighted their personal inspirations as well as the challenges and opportunities that come with setting up a food business from scratch.

Eoin O’Flynn, marketing manager, Flogas Ireland, with the company’s new brand ambassador, motorbike racer Nicole Lynch, from Dublin. Nicole will be driving a car converted to Flogas Autogas to motorcycle race meetings this year.

Eat at Green Brown Thomas has unveiled a new eatery on the newly refurbished Level 2 of its Dublin store. Green & Bean Cafe and Bar is a new healthy offering with artisan coffee, fresh cold-pressed juices, healthy shakes and delicious power salads.

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Good attitude about Ireland Recent Fáilte Ireland research confirmed that overseas holidaymakers’ expectations were largely met or exceeded last year with value for money perceptions holding steady. Fáilte Ireland’s Overseas Holidaymakers Attitudes Survey 2016 was conducted amongst almost 2,000 overseas holidaymakers to Ireland during June to October 2016.

news

Brexit effect causing visitor decline The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has reported a 6% decline in British arrivals from December 2016 to February 2017. The monthly drop in February alone was 22%, causing the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) to warn that up to 10,000 jobs are at risk over Britain’s departure from the EU. “Over two in every five international visitors to Ireland come from the UK and Brexit poses a unique and unprecedented challenge. It is absolutely vital that everything is done to support the tourism sector and underpin jobs,” said Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO of ITIC.

KDL launch interactive website KDL have just launched their interactive website. Check out the site and download their latest hospitality brochure.

The full range of products and accessories are just a click away, http//kendermar.ie/5hospitality.

Sage advice Restaurant Sage in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal has been awarded Just Ask Restaurant of the Month for April. Restaurant Sage is the creation of Donegal native and hospitality professional, Garvan Gallagher.

According to the restaurateur, “We are committed to using local suppliers and have spent time meeting with each of our farmers and producers to ensure that everything on our menu is sourced within a 25 mile radius of Letterkenny. Gildea Farm Butchers supply us with their dry aged beef and Glenswilly pork. Our chicken is reared on the Inishowen peninsula and supplied by Noone’s Farm. Greencastle and Killybegs fishmongers supply us with fresh Atlantic fish caught off our coast, and Declan of The Haven Smokehouse in Carrigart supplies us with organic smoked salmon...”

l’Ecrivain, 28 years on, and still wooing their customers Dalata digs deep Dalata Hotel Group raised €253,000 in 2016 as part of CMRF Crumlin is the fundraising body for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin and The National Children’s Research Centre. All funds raised went towards equipment needed in the hospital and research. Cancer Focus Northern Ireland was launched as Northern Ireland partner, with all funds raised going towards the provision of a cancer support nurse in the community for a year. Great Ormond Street Hospital, the UK’s largest children’s hospital, was charity partner in the UK.

l’Ecrivain Restaurant opened its doors on July 7th 1989 in the basement of 112C Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2. Back then it was a 36 seat restaurant with only 7 staff – Derry, two Commis chefs, one kitchen porter, Sallyanne, a Head Waiter, and two commis waiters. Derry had served his time as Head Chef in the Bon Appetit when it was located at The Lansdowne Hotel, Pembroke for 8 years, and he had spent 4 years as Chef in the renowned Le Coq Hardi before that.

28 years later, l’Ecrivain is one of the country’s most successful restaurants.

It has achieved numerous accolades including Michelin star status. It continues to strive in sating the appetites of their customers, and doesn’t rest on its laurels, continually embracing the ever changing restaurant environment and client needs and requests. Of course part of the success is down to the team involved, and Derry & Sallyanne, (currently enjoying her Presidency of Ireland’s Blue Book) are in no doubt how critical their staff have played in the restaurants success.

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appointments

Clarion calling Clarion Hotel Dublin Liffey Valley has welcomed a new director of sales and marketing, and general manager into the fold. New sales and marketing director, Léonie Thornton brings a number of years experience from top 4 and 5 star hotels around Dublin city and county. Simon Anglin, the new general manager, has previous hotel experience in Ireland and UK.

To the Manor born Loughlin Druhan has been appointed Director of Culinary at Adare Manor.

With a professional career spanning the continents of Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, Chef Loughlin Druhan has been appointed to head Adare Manor’s team of over 100 culinary and stewarding professionals. Previous posts include Director of Food & Beverage of Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Executive Chef of Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton in both Dubai, Cairo and Bahrain, as well as other positions at leading hotels and restaurants in the U.S., Ireland, UK and France.

New Chair for Clare Bunratty-based businessman Maurice Walsh has been appointed Chair of Clare Tourism. Mr. Walsh, who is General Manager of Durty Nelly’s, assumes the role held

by Ennis hotelier Paul Madden since 2015.

Pictured are members of the newly appointed Clare Tourism Steering Group (l-r): Cillian Murphy of Kilkee Tourism (West Clare), Gerard Dollard (Clare County Council), Darragh Quinn, The Farmyard, Corofin (North Clare), Eoin O’ Hagan of Clare Virtually (East Clare), Mary Gleeson of Promote Ennis (Ennis), Chair Maurice Walsh of Durty Nellys, Bunratty (South Clare), and Deirdre Power of Clare Tourism (representing Maureen Cleary).

Hayfield opens door for TJ

Montenotte bowled over by new GM

Hayfield Manor has announced the appointment of TJ Mulcahy as new General Manager. TJ Mulcahy was formerly Deputy General Manager at Ashford Castle for ten years.

He also worked in the UK at the Hilton London Metropole, the Novotel London West, and at The Montague on the Gardens.

Cork’s luxury 4 star boutique hotel, The Montenotte Hotel, has announced the appointment of Brian Bowler to the role of General Manager.

Brian has over 20 years experience in the hospitality sector, having held senior management roles with brands such as the Carton House Hotel (Kildare), The Brehon Hotel & Angsana Spa (Kerry), and the former Clarion Hotel Cork (now the Clayton Hotel Cork City).

Serving up a treat for Ashford Castle Ashford Castle has welcomed Lisa Toomey to its five-star team as Director of Food & Beverage. Lisa joins the team of 350 staff at one of Ireland’s most luxurious hotels. Ashford Castle was bought by The Tollman family, of Red Carnation Hotels, who have now completed a $75 million restoration of the property. Lisa previously worked as Food & Beverage Manager at the Hyatt Regency London and as Director of Food & Beverage at London’s The Connaught Hotel.

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dalata

it’s all about the people

From entering the industry as a porter with Yeats Hotel in his native Sligo forty-seven years ago, Pat McCann now leads the multi-million euro Dalata Group towards further expansion in his role as CEO. With such a background McCann naturally brings a unique brand of experience to the group, that is now the largest of its kind to ever exist in Ireland and includes significant market share in key geographic locations across the country. Despite the size of the group – which has also earmarked further expansion in Great Britain, McCann emphasises an approach to operations that has resulted in a personalised relationship amongst suppliers, customers and staff. This method has today brought about strong, yet still expanding links with stakeholders as McCann sees continual investment as a key way of maintaining standards.

“We’ve created something special, which has never been done in Ireland before, we have the largest listed hotel PLC ever on the island and we have the two largest brands. Those brands, Clayton and Maldron now boast the largest number of rooms throughout the country and are themselves set for further expansion. “It takes a long time to build a brand and have the market penetration that you need, said McCann on chronicling the groups history since its foundation in 2007. Despite such progress, in the eyes of McCann this is just the beginning for the organisation with further advancement, particularly in Great Britain set for the near future.

“I always say we operate slightly on the edge of chaos, and most organisations need to be like that or else they are not intensive enough”, stated McCann on discussing the work ethic

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dalata

“cannot be underestimated in its importance” in helping make the breakthrough to the British market.

and innovation he believes has been key to his success with Dalata. This has seen numerous internal programs set up within the business to cater to training needs as well as the establishment of a food and beverage team to oversee the culinary strategy throughout the business.

Although Dalata have enjoyed a prosperous period over the past year, he is careful to not get carried away from the philosophy at the core of the company’s success, “I don’t mind what you do in the organisation, it’s how you do it that matters”.

In 2016 McCann oversaw a strong year for the group which included a greater than expected profit, along with the acquisition of several key properties from theChoice Hotels Group, as well as the Clayton Burlington Road. “In a company like ours its all well and good having a strong financial performance, but you have to look at what you are doing for the future”, said McCann on discussing the 1,200 rooms currently being constructed by Dalata – the majority of which are being built in Ireland. With strong market share established across major geographic centres here, the British market will now present the majority of major investment for the group going forward, as Dalata look to replicate their Irish success across the water. Such expansion has been streamlined through a deal with German bank Deka, which in the words of McCann

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While Dalata may comfortably be the largest hospitality group in the nation, one thing that is not lost on McCann is the importance of maintaining a relationship with artisan food suppliers to ensure premium quality produce from local areas is being presented to customers. “What we have been able to give them is a route to market, they had the product but had no route to market”, said McCann detailing a list of suppliers that dot the map across the four corners of the island. In fact, the partnership that exists between Dalata and these artisan companies is so strong the company helps by collecting produce directly from them to deliver to group properties.

A further advancement for the company has been the recent launch of its own coffee brand, the Red Bean Roastery, which is set for expansion across the entire portfolio. Although McCann states that this introduction will not be a major revenue stream for the group, he believes that instead it will be key in adding value for consumers who now demand a higher standard in food and beverages on offer.

Under McCann Dalata have looked to maintain links to corporate clients and tour operators at a time when many in the industry have moved away from these sectors with a view to focusing on transient business. “We’ve always had the view that we want to maintain a balance of long term business partnerships”, he stated and that a move to short term success in the transient market is a “dangerous” place financially to be.

With room rates improving, raising finance for recent acquisitions has been relatively easy, although McCann has remained cautions about the market being over exuberant in this respect. “The problem is that if you raise too much money you’re then forced into buying things that give you lesser

dalata returns, whereas we earmarked exactly what we wanted to buy”, he said in referent to the purchase of the Moran Bewley Group amongst others. Between debt and equity the firm has now raised a total of €800m, with most of that already spent or allocated for use.

“When I look at all the big companies they have centralised a lot of their functions, which to my mind is fundamentally flawed because the hotel business is about people”, said McCann when talking about the more decentralised approach favoured by Dalata. This sees each hotel in the portfolio essentially operate as an independent business with General Managers recruited from within through a specific program set up to mentor them. Staffing for such a large organisation naturally presents its challenges, but McCann believes much of this can be solved from running such programs to develop staff in house for management positions across a broad spectrum of roles.

With over 4,500 staff now on their payroll, the company has also implemented a number of incentives for employees generally not found throughout the rest of the industry including share schemes and pensions. “If you want a career in the hotel industry, you’re chances of progression are far greater here”, stated McCann who emphasised a need for fairness toward staff with a view to developing from within.

Of recent changes in the industry, McCann identifies changing trends in technology and booking as key changes that will only continue to develop going forward. Despite a strong trade with tour, corporate and event clients he identified a particular challenge within the transient market due in part to price sensitivity. “Peoples methodology of booking has changed totally, even brand loyalty becomes an issue”, adding that consumers have become increasingly educated to what deals are available and mobile “on the go” booking has become commonplace amongst the transient sector.

In response to a more tech savvy customer, Dalata has employed a policy of free Wi-Fi across group hotels despite initially charging, with McCann stating his belief that a two-tier access model seen in some parts of the industry is a flawed one. “We say one system, one standard, Wi-Fi is the thing that consumers look at most what is the quality and strength of it” I’ve been in this business forty-seven years, I’ve never known a time when business in every sense of the word didn’t have challenges, said McCann on looking toward the future. So far he has taken a flexible approach to business, with that to date proving to be decisive. “It’s about taking a practical view of our business and where it is going and what we need to do to build an even bigger business”. For McCann and Dalata the next major step will be expansion in the British market, with the same principles that have brought such success here being seen as key to future growth.

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personal injury

Is compensation culture destroying Irish hospitality?

Huge payouts and costly litigation is leading to out of control personal injury claims. Joe Dolan, IHF president, and RAI chief Adrian Cummins, talk to Pavel Barter about Ireland’s wayward compensation culture.

When Justice Mary Faherty’s ruling was announced, the Irish hospitality industry took a deep breath. In May 2011, a restaurant manager at Mullingar Park Hotel guided hairdresser Annette O’Connor to her table. As the diner pulled in her chair, she hit her knee on the leg of the table. O’Connor finished her meal but later took a case against the hotel insisting the that her knee pain interfered with her work as a hairdresser. Earlier this year, Faherty awarded O’Connor €20,000 in damages with additional costs.

For hoteliers and restaurateurs, this case illustrated a compensation culture gone crazy. In 2015, 18,992 new personal injury suits were filed in the District, Circuit and High Court, amounting to a 7% increase on 2014. While insurance claims have long been rife in the motor car industry, they are now engulfing hospitality businesses too.

“We are seeing an increase the number and size of claims,” Joe Dolan, president of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) and owner-manager of the in Carrick-on-Shannon, told H&R Times.

“We are seeing a huge increase in the more spurious claims. The cost of settling a smaller claim, no matter how spurious or off the wall, is cheaper than challenging it. The cost of bringing in consultants and experts is more expensive than the award itself.

All that is driving a compensation culture.”

Adrian Cummins, CEO at Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI), sees a similar pattern in restaurants.

“We have a huge claims culture in Ireland at the moment, where there seems to be ambulancechasing by some claimants,” he told us.

The rise in personal injury claims is leading to out of control insurance costs. Premiums have leapt from 30% to 50%. Hotels and restaurants without any claims history have seen premiums double. Not so long ago, there were over ten big players in the Irish insurance market; this has since fallen around three or four. Due to the lack of supply and overwhelming demand, rates have rocketed.

The cost of claims are a direct result of the size of the awards. The new Book of Quantum, updated last October, recommended a €50,000+ payout for a broken or fractured ankle: an update from the previous Book’s €35,000. In the UK, such an injury amounts to around £10,000. Awards in England are 50% to 60% less than in Ireland.

There are also additional costs in court time, Garda resources and emergency services. In many cases the insurer does not bother to consult a business before settling a claim.

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“The business has to notify the insurer. From that point onwards, the hotel is largely out of the picture,” said Dolan. “Claims are being settled without notification. It’s horrendous.”

According to the IHF, 70% of hoteliers in Ireland believe that insurance costs are having a significant negative impact on business.

“Insurance costs are now equating to €730 per bedroom in our sector. When you get out of Dublin, some hotels only have 60% occupancy, so in relative terms that puts the figure up to over €1000 per room. It’s probably one of the biggest issues facing our sector at the moment. 52% of our members call insurance the number one cause for concern - way ahead of local authority charges, property taxes, wage costs, utilities, excess capacities and so on.”

Various aspects of the system are geared against businesses, according to the industry representatives. Some solicitors, for example, take cases on a “no win, no fee” basis, since they are confident that insurers prefer to settle rather than risk costly litigation.

“For every euro given out on a claim, the legal profession gets about €10 on top of that,” said Cummins. “If you were to claim for €20,000, the legal costs could be up to €150,000. The legal profession has circumvented the PIAB, which was set up to reduce legal costs.

Solicitors are saying to their clients, ‘Don’t bother going down the road of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board [PIAB]. You’re going to get more for your claims by going to the Circuit Court or High Court’.”

Meanwhile the judiciary shows inconsistency in its awards.

“Pull on the heartstrings of a particular judge you will do better,” said Dolan. “Some judges award more for some things than others.

Litigants and barristers cherry pick who they want to appear before, based on the nature of the incident of the claim. It’s a mess.”

Dolan described a lack of personal responsibility in the case of

many claims against Irish hoteliers. “There’s a perception that if someone has a fall, slip or trip in someone’s hotel, there is an automatic entitlement to compensation, regardless of whether any liability exists. People walking down the stairs while texting, for example, or maybe horseplay on the dance floor, or inappropriate footwear.”

More worrying is the avalanche of spurious and fraudulent claims. In 2015, a case was heard in the High Court in which the claimant had fallen out of a third floor hotel window in Kinsale while smoking a cigarette. Jason Platt, the claimant, who had been drinking on the day of the accident, claimed his back was so severely damaged that he could only move with the help of crutches or a wheelchair. However, a private investigator captured video footage of Platt walking, driving, and carrying heavy objects. His €1.8m claim was dismissed.

Spurious claims, or “ambulance chasing” as it’s known, is on the rise in Ireland. According to research by insurer AIG in 2016, 21% of people know someone who has exaggerated an insurance claim while 15% know someone who has falsified a claim.

The research also revealed that 73% of people are unhappy with Ireland’s perceived compensation culture.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs are now seeing a scourge of serial claimants. However, due to data protection laws, a claimant’s history cannot be raised in court, “but when it comes to the hotel’s premium, the hotel’s claims history plays a large part in the outcome,” said Dolan.

So what can be done to safeguard a hospitality business from personal injury claims?

Proprietors should minimise risk through safety management and best practice. Protection from spurious claims, on the other hand, is a security issue. In 2001, Supermacs captured footage of two claimants splashing water on the floor, which they then purposefully slipped on. The claim was withdrawn after the footage was shown in court.

Dolan recommends an up-to-date CCTV system and a proactive action plan within the first hour of an incident.

“CCTV has come way down in price. I have a midrange, mid-price hotel, and I have 80 cameras in 80% of my public areas. Secure your CCTV footage; take witness statements; gather up all the information there and then. The first few hours are critical. In relation to spurious claims, look at Facebook, secure activity on social media in the aftermath. Some solicitors advise their clients to shut down their Facebook. Because a person has two years to lodge a claim, if the evidence is not secure it will be well gone.”

Ultimately, ending compensation culture should be the responsibility of legislators and politicians.

“

personal injury

The Book of Quantum is out of kilter, internationally

”

Certain sections of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 state that it is a criminal offence to give false evidence in a personal injuries action. Yet Dolan and Cummins are not aware of any prosecutions being made against concocted claims against Irish hospitality businesses. “Courts need to send a very clear statement those that are bringing false claims against certain businesses that you will be punished fully if you do it,” said Cummins.

Some positive moves have been taken to reduce ambulance-chasing.

Insurance Confidential, an Insurance Ireland hotline allows the public to whistle blow on people faking injury or loss. Since its establishment in 2003, the hotline claims to have led to 9,000 cases of suspected fraud being reported and investigated. Furthermore, the establishment of the Court of Appeal in November 2014 has reduced the backlog of personal injury cases.

But for hoteliers barely able to cover their cost of insurance, there is no onefix solution.

“The Book of Quantum is out of kilter, internationally,” said Dolan. “As a result, the size of awards are out of kilter. The costs associated - medical, consultant fees - are out of kilter.

The inconsistency in the awards is also out of kilter.”

Cummins called for politicians and lawmakers to address the issue sooner rather than later: “The insurance industry are getting paid, the legal profession is getting paid, the claimants are getting paid. And we are the ones paying them.”

“A lot of times, when claims are challenged and dismissed, the costs are not recovered,” continued Dolan. “When fraudulence or exaggeration has been established there is no penalty. Whereas in the UK, if someone lied or exaggerated they would be punished under law. That doesn’t not happen here.”

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coeliac

Creating a

Gluten-Free, Coeliac-Friendly

Dining Experience Coeliac disease affects approximately 1% of the population, which means that in the Republic of Ireland, there are over 47,500 people living with the disease right now.

At a recent event held in conjunction with Unilever Food Solutions, the Coeliac Society of Ireland announced the launch of the “Knorr Gluten-free Guide”; a publication designed to assist all those in the hotel and catering sector in providing a gluten-free and coeliac-friendly service.

As the national charity representing all those living in Ireland with coeliac disease, we are delighted to be part of such an important step forward on behalf of our members.

The Coeliac Society of Ireland was founded in 1970 and at the end of 2016, we had 47,500 active members, all of whom are living with coeliac disease. We are a small organisation – just seven full-time employees - with very limited public funding so we rely on our members and other partners for the support we need to do our work.

This is why partnerships with organisations such as Unilever are so important, not only because they provide us with the financial resources we need, but also because we are able to work closely with people who genuinely understand the needs of those requiring a gluten-free diet. We are constantly looking for opportunities to develop new partnerships, not least in the hotel and restaurant sector, to assist in making eating out as easy as possible.

Coeliac disease is an auto-immune disease, where a person’s immune system reacts abnormally to the presence of gluten. If a person with coeliac disease eats gluten, the lining of the small intestine becomes damaged, reducing their ability to absorb the nutrients from food.

Gluten is a protein and a common ingredient found in wheat, barley and rye, and is therefore found in many everyday foods such as bread, pasta, cereals, cakes, and beer, as well as some unexpected products such as sausages, stock cubes, and soy sauce.

The disease can manifest itself at any stage in a person’s life and is a lifelong diagnosis. There is a wide range of symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, mouth-ulcers, weight-loss and bloating. Over the longer-term, it can result in crippling fatigue and weight loss.

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The conservative estimate is that approximately one-third of those living with coeliac disease in Ireland are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. If left untreated, the disease can lead to further symptoms, including anaemia, osteoporosis and fertility issues.

It is a genetic condition, so while the incidence in the population is 1 in 100, if you have a first blood relative diagnosed, your chances increase to 1 in 10. It is also more common in women, by a ratio of approximately 2:1.

There is no cure for coeliac disease and the only treatment is to follow a strict gluten-free diet for life, which is where the catering industry comes in.

The catering sector has seen many fad diets come and go over the years, but care is needed not to confuse a gluten free diet as a fad when it is necessary for medical reasons. For someone with coeliac disease, gluten free food is their medicine, a diet they must take seriously to maintain their health.

A tiny amount of gluten could make a coeliac diner very ill. The legal definition of gluten-free is less than 20 parts per million. To put it another way; if your dish was a loaf of bread, 20 ppm would be just one crumb. That is often enough to cause serious illness for someone with coeliac disease.

The Coeliac Society of Ireland offers a wide range of supports and services to our members, one of the most visible being the publication of our annual Gluten Free Food List, the latest edition of which was published in February 2017.The list contains over 6,400 products and is an indispensable support for those who need to be sure that the products they purchase are safe to eat.

Work is currently underway to create a food-services version of this food list, to be used by catering professionals in identifying products that are suitable for use in creating gluten-free dishes. We are currently compiling

coeliac the list of products that can meet the qualifying requirements for inclusion and we welcome input and suggestions from everyone in the industry in ensuring that what we create will be of use to as many people as possible.

The team in our organisation is small, with just seven employees, so any support we can get is always welcome if it furthers our objectives on behalf of our members.

Our work with the foodservices and catering sectors is a major objective for the Society in 2017 and beyond. We, as a charity, exist solely to support these members. Our mission is to make living with coeliac disease as easy as possible, so any endeavour that helps on the eating-out part of this is a big development.

When you factor in their families and friends, the figures become even more compelling. Research has shown that when a party of potential restaurant customers includes someone with a specific requirement for a coeliac-friendly option, that individual will have the greatest say in where the party chooses to eat.

We also know that our members are fiercely loyal to any restaurant they feel they can trust and will return time and again to where they eat with confidence.

Our ambition is to build on this guide as a starting point for our work with the catering and foodservices sectors and to engage with as many individuals and organisations as possible; not only those responsible for food preparation, but all staff – from kitchen to front-of-house.

We know from speaking with our members that they find it hard to have confidence when handing over food preparation responsibility to someone else. The Knorr Gluten-free Free Guide will hopefully increase this confidence level. The website has a lot of information for the sector. Go to the website www. unileverfoodsolutions.ie and follow the link ufs.com/glutenfree.

We are looking to develop a mutually-beneficial partnership for the long-term. This will hopefully include training for all staff members on the correct procedures for all aspects of food preparation and handling when providing a gluten-free and coeliac-friendly service, as well as the opportunity for businesses to declare their commitment to offering a coeliac-friendly experience.

From a catering industry perspective, this is also an important step forward. Catering for customers with one of 14 specific allergens has been a legal requirement for a while now, so at a legislative level, the guide will help to ensure compliance.

Each business that is willing to make such a commitment will then be added to a register of coeliac-friendly establishments that we will in turn promote to our members, so we will be encouraging anyone who is interested to get in touch and see how you can get involved from the outset.

However, beyond the legal requirements, there is also a very strong business case for ensuring hotels and restaurants are able to cater as fully as they can for those who need to follow a gluten-free diet.

In terms of people with coeliac disease, 1% of the population is a sizeable market to be able to attract and that is even before you look at catering to those on such a diet for non-medical reasons.

Providing for customers who require a gluten-free meal should be seen not as a complicated challenge, but as a simple exercise – one that has the potential to benefit and grow a hotel or restaurant’s business. The Coeliac Society looks forward to helping achieve this, for the sake of the hospitality sector and for our members.

COELIAC DISEASE

IS AN AUTO-IMMU

NE DISEASE THOSE AFFECTED RE ABNORMALLY WH ACT EN GLUTEN IS INGES TED GLUTEN IS A PROT EIN FOUND IN WHEAT, BARLEY AND RYE

1 IN 100 PEOPLE

IN IRELAND

HAVE COELIAC

THIS MEANS

DISEASE

47,500 PEOPLE

1 IN 10

IF YOU HAVE

IN IRELAND The Coeliac Society of Ireland is a national charity that provides its members with information and support, and work Ireland a better plac s to make e to live for people with coeliac disease.

RISK

RISES TO

A FIRST BLOOD

RELATIVE

SYMPTOMS INCLUD E: DIAR

RHOEA CONSTIPATION BONE PAIN WEIGHT LOSS STOMACH PAIN AND BLOATING CHRONIC TIREDNE SS ANAEMIA INFERTILITY CHRONIC MOUTH ULCE RS FAILURE TO THRIVE IN CHILDREN

www.coeliac.ie

01 8721471

/CoeliacSocIreland CS A4 info advert 2017.in

info@coeliac.ie @coeliacireland

dd 1

05/04/2017 20:28

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fáilte general

12,000 Meetings in Two Days – Meitheal Delivers Once Again

Ireland’s most important travel trade event, Meitheal 2017, took place last month at Punchestown with almost 300 key overseas tourism buyers from over 19 different countries meeting and agreeing future business with 360 Irish tourism businesses.

Held annually each spring and organised by Fáilte Ireland, in association with Tourism Ireland, Meitheal provides a platform for Irish tourism operators to win new contracts and customers for next season and beyond. More than 12,000 meetings took place across the two days ensuring Irish businesses had the best possible chance to generate new business for 2018 and beyond.

Siobhan King, Fáilte Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way team; Brian Nevin, Shannon Heritage and Sharon Malone, Falls Hotel get busy selling at Meitheal.

Dasha Toalepaialii, Flight Centre Global Product UK, Paul Keeley, Fáilte Ireland and Josie O’Kelly, The Fota Collection, Cork discuss Ireland’s Ancient East

Hugh Flood, of Lazy Bike Tours and Brendan Liddy of Fáilte Ireland’s Dublin team at Meitheal 2017.

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fáilte general While they were here, the overseas buyers, who came from key markets such as Great Britain, the US and Mainland Europe, also had the chance to explore the country and experience all that Ireland has to offer first hand. A total of 13 detailed fact-finding trips took place before and after Meitheal 2017 providing the buyers a greater understanding of how their customers could experience the stories of Ireland’s Ancient East, embrace the Wild Atlantic way and experience hidden Dublin.

Dublin Viking Splash: Making waves in Dublin – buyers enjoy the Viking Splash Tour

Top international buyers visiting Lullymore Heritage Park with Fáilte Ireland before Meitheal.

Walking Tour with Pat Liddy: Hitting the hidden streets of Dublin with Storyteller Pat Liddy Beaulieu House: It was Houses & Hard Times as the buyers explored Beaulieu House

Tasting the Wild Atlantic Way with a Seaweed walk,talk and tasting with John Fitzgerald of Atlantic Irish Seaweed at Caherdaniel, Co Kerry

Sligo: Overseas buyers take the Sligo Food Trail Tasting Tour

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Bord Bia

Musgrave MarketPlace & Bord Bia Team Up For Second Year of FoodService Academy Ten Food Companies Selected for 2017 Programme Sustainably grown seaweed, whiskey flavoured popcorn and Cork’s finest gluten-free fresh chilli sauce are just some of the innovative products selected to join this year’s FoodService Academy. Run by Bord Bia and Musgrave MarketPlace, the programme aims to help participants grow sales within the foodservice, or out of home food, market. The initiative also offers the opportunity to achieve growth within Musgrave MarketPlace’s foodservice business, supplying over 6,000 customers each week ranging from hotels and restaurants to pubs and nursing homes.

Programme Overview Coordinated by Bord Bia and now in its second year, FoodService Academy will take place over four months and comprise of both workshops and mentoring. Representatives from Musgrave MarketPlace will participate in the workshops, sharing invaluable practical insights and experience to help the companies better understand areas such as supplier set-up, food safety requirements and distribution model as well as sales and marketing support.

Launching this year’s programme, Maureen Gahan, Bord Bia’s Foodservice Specialist, said “Foodservice in Ireland offers major opportunities for suppliers providing innovative products and solutions to meet changing consumer needs. We’re delighted to roll out the second year of our ‘FoodService Academy’ initiative, supporting our belief that food businesses should increasingly look to the foodservice sector as a viable route to market. Now worth €7.5bn and forecast to grow to over €9bn by 2020, this route to market is delivering real growth and value for Irish food and drink companies.”

Sheena Forde, Trading Director, Musgrave MarketPlace added that, “Following on from the success of our FoodService Academy last year and that of the SuperValu Food Academy, we are now looking forward to the second year of our programme to support Irish foodservice producers through Musgrave MarketPlace.

A number of the participating companies are Food Academy graduates so we are proud to be in a position to help grow their businesses by introducing their products to our foodservice customer base. As the largest and fastest growing wholesaler in Ireland, we are ideally placed to understand the needs of the foodservice market and, as an Irish family business, we are delighted to work with small Irish companies, many of which are family owned, to give them a head start in the market.

#fsacademy 20

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Bord Bia

Nutmost - Andrew Wynne Rosie&Jim - Tracey Kelly

100% gluten free plant producing whole chicken fillets in breaded coatings T: 01 460 5900 W: www.rosieandjim.ie E: businessdevelopment@rosieandjim.ie

Producers of a range of activated nut-based snack products M: 087 986 3170 W: www.nutmost.ie E: hello@nutmost.ie

The FoodService Academy programme offers a combination of commercial and marketing expertise and will provide invaluable customer insight for the companies involved. We would like to acknowledge the excellent support of Bord Bia throughout the development of this programme, their shared passion for supporting Irish food business has been evident throughout.’’

Participants for the 2017 programme were confirmed following a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event that took place earlier this year at Musgrave MarketPlace’s recently upgraded 75,000sqft Ballymun store. Companies had the opportunity to meet with and present their products to Musgrave MarketPlace Trading Managers, Category Managers and Leinster-based sales representatives.

Company contact details and relevant images from the Meet the Buyer event.

For more information on any of the suppliers or for general queries, please contact Maureen Gahan, Foodservice Specialist, Bord Bia. M: 087 668 6129 E: maureen.gahan@ bordbia.ie

Natasha’s Living Food - Natasha Czopor

Suppliers of a vegan and raw food snack range M: 087 974 3455 E: natasha@natashaslivingfood.ie W: www.natashaslivingfood.ie

MSC Ventures Ltd - Sorcha McDonnell

Producers of a range of fresh pestos, pastas and pizza doughs, based in Glanmire, Co. Cork M: 087 410 4508 W: www.msc-ventures.ie E: s.mcdonnell@msc-ventures.ie

Mungo Murphy’s Seaweed Co - Cindy O’Brien

Harvesters of sustainably grown seaweed from Connemara M: 087 905 1956 E: abalonechonamara@gmail.com W: www.mungomurphyseaweed.com

Clarafields – Tommy Hogan

Caramel sauce manufacturer based in Co. Offaly M: 086 064 0629 W: www.clarafields.com E: tommy@clarafields.com

Fresh Soup Company - Ronan Carr Meath based manufacturers of a range of soups and sauces, free from preservatives, artificial colours or flavours M: 086 855 1931 E: ronan.irch@iol.ie W: www.thefreshsoupcompany.com Rebel Chilli - Paul Moore

Alternative range of gluten free, fresh chilli sauces.

M: 087 245 1925 E: paul@rebelchilli.com W: www.rebelchilli.com

Popsy Daisy - Maureen O’Donnell

Producer of gourmet caramel popcorn using the best quality ingredients from local producers.

M: 085 707 4899 E: info@popsydaisy.ie W: www.popsydaisy.ie

Sussed Nutrition - Keith Symes

Range of standard and flavoured culinary oils made from rapeseed grown on farm in the Co. Wicklow M: 087 611 9486 W: www.sussed.ie E: keiths@sussed.ie W: www.wicklowrapeseedoil.ie H&RT APRIL/MAY 2017

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restaurant

It’s a Deal...but is it worth it ?

Frank Corr looks at deal sites A restaurant makes an offer through a deal site. It is a two course meal for two, including a glass of wine, at a cost of €32.

The deal is good and attracts 100 responses. About a month later the restaurant receives a payment from the deal operator. It is for €600 out of a maximum of €3,200.

The operator has deducted its 50% commission (€1,600) and also €2 for each credit card transaction and it is paying the restaurant half of its total share of the deal.

At some subsequent point the restaurant will receive a second and final payment, after it has processed the vouchers presented by diners. This will not be another €600 because, on average, only 80% of the vouchers purchased were redeemed and the deal operator will only pay on these vouchers . Depending on the no-show number therefore, the final payment to the vendor may be as low as €400.

Meanwhile the restaurant owner will have served between 180 and 200 meals to voucher holders, yielding an average of €5 and €5.50 per meal. Clearly it is not possible to make a profit on this average yield, so the operation is intrinsically loss-making.

So why is it worthwhile?

Many Irish restaurants, hotels, spas, beauty parlours and visitor attractions seem to think that deals are good idea.

The various deal websites have a generous sprinkling of restaurant offers at all times- so it must make sense in some way.

A trawl through five sites indicated that the greatest enthusiasm for deals is among Dublin restaurants.

Most offered Asian cuisine, followed by pizza/pasta eateries, burger outlets and one or two mid-market restaurants. Outside of the capital, deals were fairly thin on the ground with more in Galway than in Cork or Limerick. On the day of my search, I failed to find a single restaurant offer in Waterford or Kilkenny.

There is of course some logic to the deals phenomenon, otherwise the likes of Groupon would not have become large multi-national corporations.

The first attraction is that deals can produce customers when business is slack. The small print in many deals excludes weekend or public holiday dining and some also confine the offer to ‘Early Bird’ hours. If a restaurant can fill empty tables in off-peak periods, they will generate cash flow and may also encourage the diners to spend a bit more on wine, starters or desserts, depending on the terms of the deal. Given the payment protocols of deal operators however, the cash flow benefit will be delayed.

There is also strong evidence to suggest that the deals do work in terms of delivering customers. The operators invest heavily in marketing their deals through e-mail, text messages, social media sites and occasionally on other advertising media which guarantees that the details of the offers will reach a carefully targeted demographic. The text of each deal is also constructed in a highly professional manner with Groupon in particular renowned for its copy-writing skills.

Deals also tend to attract new customers who are tempted to try a restaurant for the first time because of an ‘offer they can’t refuse’. In some cases they will bring along friends, with the result that the restaurant will also sell additional meals at their regular prices. There is also the benefit that groups tend to spend more on wines and extras than do individual diners or couples.

Perhaps the most compelling reason for engaging with the deal sites however is that they are a powerful advertising platform. They deliver a large and carefully-targeted audience with a compelling proposition and have a track record of generating volumes of first-time business which are significantly higher than what might be expected from direct mail, print media or radio advertising. And there are no up-front costs.

Once these customers arrive with their vouchers, the restaurant has a golden opportunity of making an impression and converting them into regular customers. This is the objective of most advertisers in the hospitality industry.

Unfortunately it does not work out like that. Independent research indicates a low ratio of deal-based diners making a return visit. This may be because many people are ‘voucher junkies’ who will dine only in places making special offers. It could also be that the number of offers available gives customers a choice in a particular neighbourhood or in a specific style of restaurant. The most likely cause however is that the restaurants do not make enough effort to form a bond with their first-time customers and deliver the kind of food and service which will make a return visit more likely. Restaurants may be tempted into treating voucher-holders as ‘second class diners’ on whom they have little chance of turning a profit. They may well be directed to the less attractive H&RT APRIL/MAY 2017

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restaurant tables in the room and not given the warmest of welcomes.

This approach would be seen to be most short-sighted if the restaurant instead saw the ‘deal diners’ as new customers who have been attracted at a significant cost. Even collecting the e-mail addresses of voucher holders would enable the restaurants to make them new offers in the future- and this time they would keep all of the spend.

It is also possible to negotiate deals with the ‘dealers’. The big players in the market employ large sales forces, including agents who work on commission and some restaurants have achieved lower commission rates. The base commission charged by the operators also varies. The upper level seems to be 50% and is based on Groupon’s original business model, but competitors have been winning business with lower rates of around 30%. It is also possible for regular clients to earn volume discounts on the base rate.

The main deal companies operating in Ireland include Groupon, the Dining Room, Dine in Dublin, The Taste and Menu Pages. Amazon-backed Living Social also operated here until it was acquired by Groupon last year.

At its peak, Chicago-based Groupon , operated in over 500 markets and 44 countries, but has since curtailed its operations to 15 countries. It has also cut its workforce by 1,100. The company was launched in 2008 by Andrew Mason, who was ousted some years later. A charismatic, if controversial entrepreneur, he once said: ‘We want each Groupon purchase to feel too good to be true, from the moment you buy the deal to the day you use it’. Initially the company was the darling of tech investors who mushroomed its value to $16.7bn at the time of its IPO in 2011, only to drive it down to a $3bn valuation last year. Following its acquisition of Living Social, consolidated profit began to recover, but the market now believes that the fizz has gone from daily deals.

The Dining Room, on the other hand, is part of an Irish group - Michael Dwyer’s company Empathy Marketing which also owns Pigsback, Dealrush and Luxury Breaks.

Irish restaurant users of deal vouchers seem to be reasonably happy with how the system operates, but there is considerable disparity regarding how the payment terms operate in practice. Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland reports concern among his members regarding payments and the lack of uniform standards among deal operators.

‘We are asking for a Code of Practice to how deal sites and voucher companies operate payments to restaurants and how much commission they charge’, he told us.

He may have an uphill battle on his hands. Requests for information to the main players for this article produced a stony silence.

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GMIT

Galway International Hotel School Galway has long been synonymous with Hotel Management training in Ireland. I recently reread the Mulcahy Report from 1967 when the Steering Committee on Technical Education in Ireland recommended that Galway be the main centre for hotel management training outside of Dublin with a view to building capacity to serve the needs of the country. The report also references the ‘training of girls as cooks’ but we might leave topic for another day. A three year training programme was initially considered a good option and after much negotiation and discussion the first degree in Hotel Management in Ireland was born. However the course of national interests did not run smoothly and a well-documented case called ‘The Galway 4’ explained what happened next.

Four graduating students stepped up to receive their parchments in 1976 having followed their programme of study however much to their display and disappointment their parchment on the day was not called a degree but a higher diploma. The students refused to accept their parchments and college Director Gay Corr fully supported the student position and went on public record to state the same. After months of dialogue the Department of Education finally agreed to award the full qualification and the first degree in Hotel Management in Ireland was awarded to four deserving graduates.

I am not a Galway graduate but am very proud of this story. Not least because four incredibly talented students stood by their beliefs and principles but also because colleagues who worked with and before me in Galway had the vision and mind-set to start a journey in building what has become a truly International Hotel school. And today we began a new phase of this journey which I hope will bring International recognition and awareness of the outstanding work being done throughout this small island to train the next generation of hoteliers and chefs and tourism professionals.

The Hotel School in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology as many know has been working with external and internal stakeholders for over the last forty years. Our focus has been on craft and industry education and we have worked predominately in the undergraduate space but that is all about to change. We will remain firmly focused in our commitment to our many partners including industry focused programmes but we are also developing other awards in the postgraduate space and hopefully online. We recognise Life Long Learning should be accessible to all, not just those working in a nine to five world and we are determined to find ways to help professionals not only join our industry but stay in it as they develop their careers and knowledge.

Like many other higher education Institutes (HEI) we have faced budget deficits and reductions over the last ten years and this has made our journey more challenging and at time exhausting. During the recession many careers changers and mature students returned to higher education and while we welcomed all the pressure on the system has been phenomenal. We have seen numbers increase yet funding has been significantly reduced. We are working smarter through alliances and clusters with other HEI’s and through the Connacht Ulster Alliance we have a strong, focused working partnership with LYIT (particularly the Killybegs campus) and IT Sligo.

Last year Institutes of Technology graduated thousands of students with qualifications in Hotel/Tourism/Culinary or Event Management.

Yet the industry still struggles to find staff but that topic is also for another day.

……the next generation

In 2012 we joined forces with the School of Humanities to become the College of Tourism and Arts (CTA). It was a journey we were a little unsure off however it has been such a positive learning experience for so many of us. However, despite the pluses there were challenges and one such issue was simply that the CTA was too large and diverse a school for one person to manage. With multiple demands on the school we occasionally missed opportunities however that is soon to change.

We are splitting the college and will reconstitute the former Hotel School as the Galway International Hotel School with some exciting differences.

We are thrilled that Heritage, Humanities, Communication and Languages will remain with us. These disciplines are critical in our quest to further Internationalise and enhance our curriculum. International engagement has always been a key focus of programme design and curriculum development in GMIT and no more so than in the former Hotel School. The new school will continue with International work placements in Europe, Asia, Middle East and USA and in addition we will forge new partnerships with other HEI’s and industry organisations. We expect to build on exciting cultural exchanges through Erasmus experiences and we will further integrate new disciplines into our ever expanding curriculum portfolio. We are in talks with Irish hotel partners regarding continuous professional development opportunities for existing staff as we all have a role to play in demonstrating how this industry has multiple, long term career opportunities.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank so many industry partners who have come on this journey with us and continue to support us as we grow and develop. We remain committed to finding new innovative ways in which we can work together. I hope you can continue to work with us as we enter this new exciting phase of our school and in the words of Nelson Mandela ‘ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’.

To join our journey or stay in touch we are on the usual social media platforms including facebook and twitter.

Wishing all colleagues a great summer season ahead and hope to see you as we visit our many work placement partners.

Cáit Noone

Vice President International Engagement / Head of College Tourism and Arts

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tourism ireland

Website is a big hit!

Tourism Ireland scooped the top prize for ‘best tourist board website’ at the French hospitality industry’s ‘Les Travel d’Or’ awards. Beating off stiff competition from four other destination websites (including Britain, Mauritius, La Réunion and Guadeloupe), the Tourism Ireland site, Ireland.com, was voted number one for its winning appeal and content by some 200,000 internet users from around France and by a panel of web and travel industry experts.

Alison Gaynor, Séverine Lecart and Adeline Danthon, all Tourism Ireland, with the Travel d’Or award for ‘best tourist board website’.

Sales blitz to boost American tourist numbers A delegation of 12 Irish tourism companies joined Tourism Ireland’s recent ‘Jump into Ireland’ sales blitz in the United States – which visited the cities of Austin (Texas), Chicago (Illinois) and Boston (Massachusetts). The busy schedule involved a 60-minute TV show format highlighting Ireland, as well as networking sessions with travel and lifestyle journalists – providing an excellent platform to showcase and sell Ireland to important travel decisionmakers in each city. This was the second stage of the 2017 series of ‘Jump into Ireland’ (JITI) sales blitzes; in all, the ‘Jump into Ireland’ programme will visit nine different cities in the US this year, targeting hundreds of influential travel agents and travel writers.

Mary O’Regan, Specialized Travel Services; Lisa Marshall, Lough Eske Castle; Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland; Róisín Wallace, Manor House & Irish Country Hotels; Carol Hinch, Ballynahinch Castle; and Krista Erickson, Brendan Vacations, at the ‘Jump into Ireland’ event in Chicago.

‘Ich liebe Irland’ – Taoiseach lends a hand to promote Ireland in Germany During his recent visit to Germany, Taoiseach Enda Kenny took the time to support Tourism Ireland’s promotional efforts, when he met some of the leading German tour operators who programme and sell holidays to Ireland.

With a holiday allowance of up to 30 days per year being the norm, holiday-taking is important for Germans and over half the population takes at least one holiday outside Germany each year, making it one of the largest outbound travel markets in the world. Germany is the third-largest source of visitors for Ireland and our most important non-English-speaking market.

Travel to Ireland has grown significantly in the last six years, increasing from 399,000 German visitors in 2010 to a record 650,000 visitors in 2016 – an increase of +63% since 2010. The German market is worth almost €400 million annually to our economy and Irish tourism.

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Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Frankfurt with (from left) Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland; Brian O’Grady, Highlander Reisen; Judith Eichhorn, Service Reisen Giessen; and Seán Buckley, Marina Tours.

tourism ireland

Ciao Irlanda!

Almost 19 million Italians see Ireland ads in Rome, Milan and Brescia Almost 19 million Italians are seeing ads for Ireland in metro stations in Rome, Milan and Brescia right now, as well as in 13 different airports around Italy. It’s all part of a new Tourism Ireland “moving TV” campaign with Boscolo Tours – with a Wild Atlantic Way video playing on more than 3,400 screens in 72 metro stations and on board 69 metro trains. The video is also being played on almost 300 screens in 13 airports around Italy. The campaign also includes email marketing and social media.

Golf promotion is ‘hole in one’ for tourism

Moving TV campaign in a Milan metro station.

Tourism Ireland leads sales mission to China

As the 81st US Masters got under way in Augusta recently, Tourism Ireland launched a new golf campaign in the United States. The campaign included a brand new 30-second ad which aired to an estimated 6.5 million households on the hugely popular NBC Golf Channel. And, a further 1.2 million people saw messages about golf in Ireland online, on Golfchannel.com. The TV ad will also air in the US later this year, around other Major championships and around relevant TV shows.

Tourism Ireland aims to build on its successful ‘Home of Champions’ campaign, reminding golfers across the US about our fantastic golf courses where our champions – including Rory McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke – honed and perfected their skills. Tourism Ireland is also promoting our superb golf courses on Ireland.com and through social media.

Jillian Wilson, Trinity College Dublin; Walter Pan, Embassy of China in Ireland; and James Kenny, Tourism Ireland, at the briefing for Tourism Ireland’s 2017 China sales mission.

The Old Head Golf Links in Kinsale features in Tourism Ireland’s new golf ad.

Tourism Ireland, together with 15 Irish tourism companies, is preparing to blitz four major cities in China, as part of its 2017 sales mission to grow tourism from China. The sales mission will target top Chinese travel agents and tour operators in the key cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Travel agents continue to play an important role in China, with travellers preferring to use a travel agent for a number of reasons – including convenience, language barriers, visa preparation and knowledge gaps. The objective of the upcoming sales mission is to engage with Chinese travel professionals who are currently selling Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination – and to encourage them to extend their Ireland offering, or to include Ireland for the first time, in their brochures and programmes.

3+ million to see promotion for Ireland’s Ancient East in Britain Tourism Ireland has teamed up with Stena Line and Rosslare Europort to promote Ireland’s Ancient East and, in particular, counties Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny.

A joint campaign – supported by Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny County Councils – is under way, highlighting ease of access via the Stena Line ferry service from Fishguard to Rosslare. The campaign includes online ads on popular websites, radio ads (on stations in London, the Midlands and South Wales) and ads on Facebook. As well as highlighting ease of access, the ads are encouraging British holidaymakers to “Drive over to Ireland’s Ancient East”.

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Tallaght IT

IT Tallaght Student’s Experiential Engagement with Industry Apart from engaging industry in course design, and work placement, in IT Tallaght, there is a strong focus in the delivery of the degree programme International Tourism and Hotel Management and in the Culinary Arts programmes (Higher Certificate in Culinary Arts, BA in Culinary Arts and MSc in Applied Culinary Nutrition) in engaging students with industry, throughout semesters, relevant to their programme outcomes.

This engagement has a two-fold benefit for the student, it gives a unique ‘on the ground’ breadth of experience to the student with regard to the knowledge skills and competencies required for the industry as well as inspiring their career path through contacts, role models, best practice, idea generation and opportunities. The benefit to the industry is also inherent in this engagement exercise. IT Tallaght strongly values these relationships with industry and is grateful for their on-going support.

To date this year this has involved the following experiences for students both inside and outside the college: • Junior chef forum with past culinary students, an informal get together of students to discuss the career and the industry with those that have become successful in the various sectors • Industry Forum for Management students - a series of presentations from various hotel groups on aspects of the career and placement opportunities.

• Site visits: A variety of site visits take place each year by students to hotels, restaurants, farm to fork food producers etc.

• Guest Lectures: From professionals in the industry • Gastronomy Club: This is a monthly get together of culinary students when they visit a restaurant of choice to dine as a group and to experience food and service, from ‘the other side of the pass’. This usually involves meeting the chef, talking about the restaurant ethos and getting to see the kitchen.

• Public Events: Engagement with industry/ public events is encouraged. At CATEX culinary students supported Chef Network stand at the RDS for a day and were the college partners for the Chef Network event at Airbnb that evening. More recently Management and Culinary students participated in the ‘Gout de France’ tasting dinner for the French Embassy and invited guests, prior to that they catered for the Minister for Education and invited guests at the opening of a new college building.

• Showcase of Talents: students are given the opportunity to showcase their individual talent or menu / innovative food ideas to industry on specific days throughout the semester. They welcome industry feedback prior to finalising their ideas.

Management & Culinary arts students at the residence of the French ambassador, Ailesbury Road 28

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Study Culinary Arts part-time at IT Tallaght Applications now open for:

• BA in Culinary Arts • MSc in Applied Culinary Nutrition For details call: 01-4042826

Management students visit Carton House & the Intercontinental Hotel

FOOD

forTHOUGHT Spiralling Insurance costs Many members have seen their premiums increase significantly in the past year with the average being at least 30% even with no claims! Some of the primary causes of these increases are due to the following: • • • •

Serial Claimants Lack of claims data Reform of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board must take place Reform of legal services urgently required.

If your premium has increased or if you have had a claimagainst your business in the past five years, we want to hear from you.

Please go online and take just two minutes to complete a short questionnaire on your insurance claim and premiums. If you would like to discuss any issues with your insurance, please do not hesitate to contact the office on 01-6779901 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2N7P866

How to be HACCP Compliant Sinéad Fox, Managing Director at Cater Care gives clarity on being HACCP Compliant.

There are many challenges faced by Food Businesses in today’s climate. From compliance to cash flow and everything in between.

Sinéad believes that Food Safety Compliance is something that does not need to be a challenge yet must be adhered to by all food businesses. As many food businesses look forward to a positive, busy summer, it might be a good time to review Food Safety or HACCP Compliance.

Registration: Firstly, all food businesses must be registered with the relevant governing body (for example the Environmental Health Department).

Training: All employees working with food must be trained. The level of training depends on the specific role (commensurate to work activity). There are various levels of Food Safety Training available to food businesses ranging from learner accessed online training to QQI accredited Management Training.

HACCP System: All food businesses must have in place a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP. This documentation verifies safe food production. This system starts by analysing site specific food safety risks and associated hazards and it identifies Control Points and relevant limits at these points (CCPs = Critical Control Points). Monitoring these limits (for example temperature checking), establishing corrective actions Restaurants Association of Ireland should these thresholds be exceeded, recording results and finally verifying the results should be carried out by a 11 Bridge Court – Citygate competent person. - St. Augustine Street - Dublin 8 - Registered Company No. 56224 Official Sponsor of

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HACCP Records: These are vital in proving that food businesses have complied with requirements in terms of producing safe food. Cater Care and Sinéad would suggest that being HACCP compliant is a habit, it requires dedication by all parties and cannot be the ‘job’ of a single person. If it’s not written down it didn’t happen!

Traceability: Another term that all food businesses must understand. This links into the HACCP system and is about food traceability, particularly high risk foods e.g. meat. The recording of batch numbers at all steps in the process is crucial for traceability.

In addition to the above, key operational and structural components of Food Safety must also be complied with including: Structural Hygiene, Personal Hygiene, Pest Control, Operational Hygiene, Allergen Compliance and many more.

Cater Care is your one stop shop for Food Safety Compliance, Support and Training to all types of Food Businesses.

Cater Care welcome your contact by phone on 061 469008 or email info@catercare.ie

Restaurant & Hospitality Skillnet The Restaurant & Hospitality Skillnet is delighted to announce that many courses are up and running with over 10 courses having taken place in Customer Service and Kitchen Management in the past month.

We are now taking expressions of interest for our Supervisor Management Development programme which will commence September 2017. This will run in Dublin and Cork at first and we hope to roll it out in other locations from January 2018. It will be an 8 day course run 1 day a week every 2-3 weeks.

Topics to be covered include; • • • • • • • •

Business Planning and Marketing Planning and Role of the Manager Financial Management Kitchen & Waste Management Human Resources Service Skills/ Managing the Room Communication Customer Service and Selling

If you have a supervisor working for you that may be interested in the course, please send an e-mail of interest to Kim Leonard, info@rai.ie RestaurantsAssociation AssociationofofIreland Ireland Restaurants

BridgeCourt Court– –Citygate Citygate- St. - St.Augustine AugustineStreet Street- Dublin - Dublin8 8- Registered - RegisteredCompany CompanyNo. No.56224 56224 1111Bridge

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forTHOUGHT

Irish Restaurant Awards 2017

All our Regional County Finals have now taken place with winners being announced in each county in several categories including Best Newcomer, Pub of the Year, Best Restaurant, Best Chef, Best Wine Experience and many more. The regional and all-Ireland winners will be announced on Monday 8th May at a Black-Tie Gala dinner.

A sumptuous menu is being prepared by the 2016 Best Chef winners.

DePaul Ireland is the Irish Restaurant Awards 2017 charity partner. DePaul is a leading cross-border charity supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. We will conduct a charity raffle on the night of the All Ireland Final and all funds raised will be divided between DePaul and our own Benevolent Fund. Last year we raised over €10,000 for charity.

For further information on the regional winners or to purchase tickets for May 8th, please log on to www. irishrestaurantawards.com

Best Hotel Restaurant Mayo

Best Restaurant Antrim Deanes Eipic

Best Customer Service Waterford Momo Restaurant Local Food Hero Connacht Stefan Griesbach

RestaurantsAssociation AssociationofofIreland Ireland Restaurants

BridgeCourt Court– –Citygate Citygate- St. - St.Augustine AugustineStreet Street- Dublin - Dublin8 8- Registered - RegisteredCompany CompanyNo. No. 56224 No. 56224 1111Bridge 56224 56224 Official Sponsor of Official Sponsor of

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NEW MEMBERS FOODforTHOUGHT

NEW MEMBERS Restaurant Name

County

Restaurant Name

County

Mimosa Wine and Tapas Bar

Co Carlow

Talavera Restaurant at Radisson Blu St Helens

Co Dublin

Leaf and Bean

Co Galway

The Magpie Inn

Co Dublin

Inside Out

Co Meath

Bar Italia

Dublin 1

The Riverside Cottage

Co Waterford

The Tolka House

Dublin 9

The Jockey's Bar

Co Louth

The Holy Grail New Ross

Co Wexford

Bella Napoli

Co Kildare

The Little Cottage Café

Co Sligo

Café Bon Bon

Co Kildare

McGrory's Hotel

Co Donegal

Harrington's

Co Kerry

Bates Restaurant

Co Wicklow

Upper Deck Café

Co Wexford

Café Sambrosa

Co Meath

The Munster Arms Hotel

Co Cork

Pure Magic at The Lodge

Co Mayo

Honeycomb Café and Bakery

Dublin 22

Doolin Café

Co Clare

Clover Fox Connemara

Co Galway

The Rose Garden Café

Co Kerry

Wishbone

Dublin 2

The Mulberry @ Breaffy House Resort

Co Mayo

Le Plancha

Co Dublin

The Gallops Bar and Restaurant @ Kildare House Hotel

Co Kildare

The Banyan Restaurant

Co Waterford

Blas Café

Dublin 1

Dela

Co Galway

Italian Connection

Dublin 1

Red Earth

Co Westmeath

The White House Baldoyle

Dublin 13

The Jar

Dublin 2

Mi Asian Street Food

Co Wexford

No. 3 Old Bar & Restaurant

Co Louth

The New Swan

Co Wexford

Billy Byrnes

Co Kilkenny

The Lobster Bar

Co Kerry

The Copper Grove

Co Cork

San Lorenzo's

Dublin 2

The Laurels

Dublin 12

BR Café & Bistro

Co Leitrim

Orange Café

Co Kilkenny

The Scullery - Fruitfield Farm Foodhall

Co Derry

Grogan's of Glasson

Co Westmeath

Pyke N Pommes

Co Derry

Season's Restaurant

Co Laois

BuJo

Dublin 15

Whelehan's Wines and Café

Co Dublin

Dolce Sicily

Dublin 2

The Grey Goose

Co Louth

The Ivy Cottage

Co Clare

The Bookshelf Coffee House Cork

Co Cork

Ember

Dublin 6

The Bookshelf Coffee House Tralee

Co Kerry

Praline Pastry Shop & Café

Co Cork

Belly

Co Westmeath

Dowling's Steakhouse

Co Kildare

Brown Restaurant

Co Kerry

The Bloody Cranesbill Bar at The Cliffs of Moher Hotel

Co Clare

Gather

Co Galway

Il Pomo D'oro Restaurant

Co Kerry

Co Kerry

Bacchus

Co Westmeath

Co Galway

Sid's Diner

Co Wexford

Co Galway

Ocean Wild

Co Cork

Hall of Fame Cafe @ Dunbrody Famine Ship

Co Wexford

Mash Restaurant @ Osprey Hotel

Co Kildare

The Catstle Coffee House

Co Clare

Spitjack Restaurant

Co Cork

Pat Cohan's Bar

Co Mayo

Business Name

County

Website

West Wing Restaurant

Co Galway

Corleggy Cheeses

Co Cavan

http://www.corleggycheeses.ie/

Woodfire and Green Gourmet Kitchen

Dublin 18 Co Wexford

BD Foods

Co Monaghan

http://www.bdfoods.ie/

Mossel Bay @ Courtown Golf Club The Restaurant at Courtown Hotel

Co Wexford

Galgorm Group

Co Antrim

http://www.galgormgroup.com/

Revive Café

Co Kerry

Energy Solutions

Dublin 7

http://www.energysolutions.ie/

Fellini's Restorante Italiano

Co Dublin

JWHA Consulting Engineers

Co Dublin

http://www.jwha.ie/catering-engineers.

Fifty50 Navan

Co Meath

Time Point

Dublin 6

http://www.timepoint.ie/

Kernel Bar and Kitchen

Co Kilkeny

Puddleducks Café

Co Mayo

Long Ways Cider

Co Tipperary

http://longwayscider.ie/

The Lighthouse Café

Co Dublin

Access & Time Control

Dublin 24

http://www.accessandtime.com/

Harts Coffee Shop

Co Cork

Jobs.ie

Dublin 2

www.jobs.ie

Third Space Smithfield

Dublin 7

BTI Engineering

Co Dublin

Third Space Aungier Street

Dublin 2

http://www.btiengineering.com/ bevserv-bar-rentals,offer/

Allo's

Co Kerry

The Olde Glenbeigh Hotel The Maritime Restaurant @ Clybaun Hotel O'Gormans Bistro @ Clybaun Hotel

Restaurants Restaurants Association Association of of Ireland Ireland

trade partners

11 11 Bridge Bridge Court Court –– Citygate Citygate -- St. St. Augustine Augustine Street Street -- Dublin Dublin 88 -- Registered Registered Company Company No. No. 56224 56224

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hospitality

FOOD Guestline and Irish

FOODforTHOUGHT

forTHOUGHT

partner Tierney’s, host hospitality event in Limerick

The ever-popular Guestline Connect event was recently back in Ireland, in Limerick held at The Hunt Museum and hosted in conjunction with Irish partner Tierney’s (a leading independent IT solution provider), hoteliers and consultants heard from a range of industry experts on the latest technological innovations on the market place.

Joined by key partners, Google, Digital Alchemy and GuestRevu who demonstrated how hoteliers could convert their online presence into bookings; how to drive reviews to TripAdvisor; how to maximise business intelligence and how to effectively communicate with your guest after the reservation process. The event also included an opportunity for all guests to network and share best practice.

One of the guests Kathryn O’Connell- Reservations & Sales Manager from the Castle Oaks House Hotel Limerick commented after the event ‘’A big thank you to Tierney’s & Guestline for putting together this informative and networking event. We really enjoyed it and feel that we benefited from the morning greatly. Thank you so much for the invite’’.

Rupert Gutteridge, Guestline’s Sales and Marketing Director added, ‘With today’s traveller embracing online and mobile platforms more than ever before, it’s becoming significant for hoteliers to be ahead of the digital curve and ensure they are capturing their share of mobile bookings and utilising their guest data more intuitively.

By inviting several of our industry partners to the Guestline Connect events, we can help delegates explore how hoteliers could stand out from the crowd online and understand guest loyalty and data analysis more effectively. We have run a number of these events in the UK and Ireland with more planned in the coming months. “ Take a look at Guestline’s upcoming events here www.guestline. We hope to see you there!

Restaurants Restaurants Association Association of of Ireland Ireland

11 11 Bridge Bridge Court Court –– Citygate Citygate -- St. St. Augustine Augustine Street Street -- Dublin Dublin 88 -- Registered Registered Company Company No. No. 56224 56224

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Bookassist

A Vision of Hotel Excellence Online

By Des O’Mahony

The second Bookassist-Google Summit for hoteliers takes place in late April at Google HQ in central Dublin.

This meeting’s theme is “A Vision of Excellence” to show how hotels achieve higher direct booking figures, with both companies presenting their joint view of what excellence looks, as well as what it results in. This latest summit meeting for hoteliers follows a very successful Bookassist-Google Summit held at Google HQ in Dublin in mid-November last that highlighted best practice in online strategy for hotels in what is a very fast-moving space.

The companies will continue with joint presentations in Bookassist’s other core markets, with events in Madrid, Milan and in Prague in the coming weeks.

Bookassist’s overall aim is not just to improve direct online business for hotels, but to allow hotels to benchmark themselves against their peers so that routes to improvement become more clear. To this end, we launched our Direct Booking Clinics in March to allow for assessment of a raft of online and offline metrics for hotels resulting in a personalized Direct Booking Health Score.

To date, almost 200 hotels have been benchmarked in our clinics and have taken positive action based on the findings that give measureable improvements to their online business.

It’s the Journey

So what does excellence in hotels look like? What are the critical factors in achieving success? Is it actually worth striving for excellence? These are the concepts being teased out in the Direct Booking Health Score and in the Bookassist-Google summits.

Let’s start with the result. Achieving excellence online is for sure worth it. Understanding online strategy, to the point where you can control and leverage distribution and develop strong direct business, pays in real hard cash in terms of reduced cost of acquisition and higher margins. It also insulates you against an overly-dependent exposure on online travel agents who can change their fees or terms of business at any time, to your detriment.

However, achieving excellence is not a one-off event. It is a continual journey that requires strong effort and ongoing nurturing. What separates excellent hotels from the others is not just how they leverage knowledge and technology for their own advantage, but how they continue to re-educate themselves to stay ahead of the pack to protect and nurture their direct business.

Figure 1: The Direct Booking Health Score ranks multiple elements of a hotel’s online strategy, each one scientifically weighted based on Bookassist’s industry experience, to give an overall performance score that can then be benchmarked against similar properties. The analysis helps hotels understand where best to concentrate their efforts when aiming to improve their online strategies, and also indicates what is realistically achievable versus their peers.

What Does Excellence Look Like?

Let’s run through a few of the key factors that separate the excellent from the ordinary.

1. Excellent hotels know their numbers inside out. And they understand them.

It is critical that all decision makers in every part of the business know what the breakdown between online and offline business is, what the breakdown between GDS, OTA, travel agent and direct to web is, what the real cost of acquisition per channel is, regardless of the revenue. Without this knowledge shared in your organization, there is no urgency created to reduce distribution costs and focus on margin improvement. In our experience, a majority of hotel staff have misconceptions about their own distribution figures and costs, and this needs to be fixed.

2. Excellent hotels share information with their online partner, be that Bookassist or any other online strategy partner. Your marketing agency and online technology provider can only operate to the optimum with full information on your overall marketing plans, online and offline promotion plans, advertising campaigns, distribution strategy and, of course, your numbers. This requires coordination at the marketing strategy level that, in our experience, is often missing in hotels. It is a lost opportunity at best and at worst leads to conflicts of approach that affect performance both online and offline. Hotels and their online partners should also challenge each other to strive for improvement and ensure that expected outcomes are reached on both sides.

http://bookassist.org/news/article/direct-booking-health-score-brings-industry-benchmarking-to-direct-business/en/

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Bookassist What does excellence bring?

Excellence comes with a cost. Technology, strategy, education, training, marketing spend, continual improvement – none of this is cheap. What’s interesting is that when all these elements work in unison, like a tuned orchestra in flow, they help each other to produce better overall brand recognition, better customer satisfaction and more direct bookings, resulting in a reduction in cost per acquisition and improved profit. However, when done half-heartedly, like randomly-played musical instruments, they fail to compound eachother and simply cost money without clear return.

If efforts to improve direct booking are not working for you, the solution is not to reduce budgets and limit your exposure, which will only guarantee failure. The solution is to redouble your efforts, seek help to improve your strategy, and increase your targeted spending to ensure results. Success breeds success and rewards concerted effort, so identifying areas for potential improvement in your strategy is something you should embrace. This is what the Direct Booking Health Score is designed to do.

But more than anything else, excellence brings independence. It reduces reliance on external distributors who view you only as a supplier, not a partner. It ensures that you can take decisions that are in the long term interest of your business.

Bottom Line Figure 2: Bookassist’s Susanna Mazzoncini (Rome office) and Mario Clemente (Vienna office) were part of the Direct Booking Clinic staff running the Direct Booking Health Score for hotels at the ITB travel trade show in Berlin in March.

3. Excellent hotels leverage the best technology and recognize the need for investment in staff upskilling. Distribution strategies need micro-management that can only be achieved with technology. Rates and availabilities have become dynamic variables that need 24 hour attention. The battle for customer interaction requires relationship management technology to stay on par with or ahead of OTAs. The increasing need to control long-tail business and exposure requires 12-24 month forward planning and management. The plethora of online sales channels means that your web and booking engine must be highly optimized at all times to ensure you can convert, not just optimized once every two years. All of these issues require interconnected technology, and staff who understand how to operate it.

It’s clear that there are no absolute benchmarks when it comes to online measurement. Each hotel is genuinely unique in terms of its location, feature set and appeal. However in almost any category you care to mention, there are best performers and worst performers that you can gauge your hotel against, and in doing so implement change that puts you on the track towards the best performer position where you can reap the benefits.

4. Excellent hotels are never complacent and are continually working to improve on processes and remain on top of the changes in the marketplace and in technology. It is not good enough to get the best technology and implement workplace change as a once-off.

This sows the seed for excellence, but to flourish there must be ongoing nurturing, constant feeding with a continual watchful eye on your natural predators.

5. Excellent hotels demonstrate excellence throughout the organization. Every staff member has their part to play, this is not just a senior management game. For example, the cleaning staff are more responsible for your TripAdvisor ranking than anyone else in most cases. The breakfast chef, or the doorman, is often the last impression left on the guest of what your brand stands for. And the reception staff are those who can encourage every arriving non-direct customer to consider the direct booking path next time by cheerfully explaining the advantages given to direct customers (do you/they actually know what they are?). In excellent hotels, front-line staff understand their influence on the customer and are trained to ensure that influence is a positive one. This is about management and an empowerment culture, sharing the organization goals with the entire team.

Dr Des O’Mahony is CEO and Founder at Bookassist (www.bookassist.com), the multi-award-winning technology and digital strategy partner for hotels worldwide, and is a HSMAI “Top 20 Extraordinary Minds” recipient.

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fáilte news

Capital Investment in OPW

Fáilte Ireland has committed €11.5m in funding from its Capital Grants budget for ten key OPW projects in Dublin and within the Ireland’s Ancient East region this month. The funding is in the context of Fáilte Ireland’s strategic partnership with the OPW to assist in the refurbishment and enhancement of key visitor attractions.

Among the projects receiving funding are – a new museum and viewing platform in The Record Tower at Dublin Castle, which will make one of the city’s most impressive medieval buildings much more compelling for visitors.

There is also significant funding for the Rock of Cashel as well as Newgrange, Knowth and the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre.

Minister Patrick O’ Donovan and Minister Séan Canney officially announce the €11.5m funding at Dublin Castle’s Record Tower

New Storytelling Toolkit for operators in Ireland’s Ancient East Fáilte Ireland has published a brand new toolkit for tourism stakeholders and operators within the Ireland’s Ancient East region to provide guidance on what works best when attracting visitors.

Ireland’s Ancient East – A Toolkit for Storytelling Interpretation seeks to assist attraction managers, tourism businesses, accommodation providers, local authorities, planners and designers to find their best stories and tell them in an engaging way for visitors.

Download your copy of the new toolkit at www.failteireland.ie

Overseas Holidaymaker Survey Confirms Satisfaction with Ireland The results from Fáilte Ireland’s Overseas Holidaymakers Survey are in and it turns out that visitor expectations of Ireland were meet and in many cases exceeded in 2016 with value for money perceptions holding steady. Some of the highlights from the research include: · Overseas holidaymakers’ expectations were largely met or exceeded last year · People, scenery and culture are important factors in delivering so many happy customers and generating growth. · Holidaymakers continue to rate Ireland as good value for money with 61% of holidaymakers saying that they found ‘good’ or ‘very good’ value in Ireland – on a par with performance in 2015. · Internet is crucial to destination choice and in-country activity

Download a full copy of the survey at www.failteireland.ie 36

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fáilte news

Extending the season along the Wild Atlantic Way Businesses in North Donegal were learning cost effective ways in which they can remain open outside of the main summer season at a recent Wild Atlantic Way Extend the Season Workshop. During the workshop they were introduced to new ideas for saleable experiences and heard case studies of experiences and events that are not season dependent. Find out more about Fáilte Ireland’s work on the Wild Atlantic Way at www.failteireland.ie/wildatlanticway

Local Donegal businesses find out how they can help visitors embrace the Wild Atlantic Way outside of the summer season

Visitor Experiences are Enhanced Across Ireland’s Ancient East

Visitors can expect even more from their visits to Ireland’s Ancient East as a number of attractions have further enhanced their offerings over the last number of months.

With support from Fáilte Ireland’s ‘New Ideas in Ancient Spaces’ scheme Powerscourt Estate in Co. Wicklow has introduced innovative multi-lingual audio guides which are now available in English, Chinese, German, Spanish and French and Cavan’s Castle Saunderson has just completed a new ‘easy to explore’ castle trail so that visitors to the grounds can explore the story of the estate with ease.

The Medieval Museum in Kilkenny is also officially open to the public following significant capital assistance from Kilkenny County Council and Fáilte Ireland.

Minister Patrick O’Donovan cuts the ribbon with Grace Fegan, Medieval Mile Museum, John Paul Phelan TD, Colette Byrne, Chief Executive Kilkenny COCO, Mayor Patrick O’Neill, Cathaoirleach Matt Doran, Jenny de Saulles, Failte Ireland and Ciaran Conroy, Kilkenny Civic Trust, to officially open the Medieval Mile Museum. Photo: Pat Moore.

Dublin Champions

Another 65 front line tourism representatives from across Dublin were honoured as ‘Dublin Champions’ at a recent ceremony in the Science Gallery at Trinity College. There are now a total of 400 Dublin Champions located across the city and county, all fully armed to help visitors uncover some of Dublin’s hidden stories and experiences. Find out more about Fáilte Ireland’s work in Dublin at www.failteireland.ie/dublin

Daire Enright, Fáilte Ireland (centre) with new Dublin Champions Ronan O’Leary from Extreme Ireland (left) and Henry Wang from Brown Thomas (right).

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DIT

Studying Hospitality part-time at DIT The hospitality sector can be both demanding and competitive. Complementing knowledge of the hospitality industry with formal education can prove to be an advantage in terms of securing promotions to more senior positions or in learning how to run a hospitality business more effectively.

DIT’s School of Hospitality Management and Tourism are aware of the importance of flexibility in the delivery of courses in hospitality. There are a number of different course options to suit those working in industry, and they are tailored specifically towards those both with or without a background in formal education. These dynamic programmes offer challenging opportunities for those who wish to further their career in the hotel, restaurant and general hospitality sector. Students develop techniques and management skills to manage all aspects of the dayto-day operations of any hospitality business.

The following programmes are suitable to those who wish to study part-time. Entry requirements are based on experience and not on formal qualifications.

Higher Certificate in Hospitality Services Management (DT451), Level 6

This course takes place over two years (two evenings per week) between September and May each year (two 12 week semesters in each academic year).

Students on this course can also undertake to sit the examinations for the National Hygiene Partnership (NHP) and Management of Food Safety and HACCP Programme. The Managing Training and Development Module of this programme has been accepted by the NHP as a suitable qualification to deliver Food Safety Management and HACCP training in students’ own organisations.

Higher Certificate in Hospitality Management (DT458), Level 6

This course takes place over two years (one weekday per week) between September and May each year (two 12 week semesters in each academic year).

The programme is offered in conjunction with the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI), the professional body representing the interests, careers and needs of hospitality managers. Students automatically become members and have access to a range of benefits including valuable contacts within the industry.

Bachelor’s Ordinary Degree in Hospitality Management (DT460E), Level 7

This programme takes place over three years (three evenings per week) between September and May each year (two 12 week semesters in each academic year).

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Degree holders who also have a good operational knowledge of the business are in high demand. This programme provides in-depth knowledge of how to successfully manage and run a business in the hospitality sector.

Those who already hold a third level degree are eligible to apply for the full-time or part-time master’s programme.

Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management (DT435), Level 9

This course can be completed in one year full-time or between two and five years part-time.

This programme offers graduates the opportunity to participate at leadership level in the global hospitality sector. Graduates of the programme are currently employed in a variety of senior roles in hotels, restaurants, public administration, resorts and consulting, as well as in higher education.

Students develop an understanding of core business and management skills through a set of four key modules.

• The Effective Manager

• Strategic Marketing and Digital Media

• Managerial Finance and Entrepreneurism

• Emerging Issues in Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure These core modules are complemented by discipline specific specialist topics such as:

• Strategic Revenue Management and Distribution

• International Hospitality Operations Management

• Discipline Specific Dissertation Learning will involve many different styles of teaching such as lectures, tutorials, online learning and field trips.

To enhance the learning experience the field trip will focus on developing the hospitality/tourism product in a destination within Ireland.

Graduates of this Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management have proven how useful this programme is to career development due to its versatility; range of transferrable skills and in networking opportunities.

For all full course details visit: www.dit.ie/hmt or phone 01 402 4352.

DIT

Special Feature on

DIT Higher Certificate in Hospitality Services Management DIT’s Higher Certificate in Hospitality Services Management (DT451), is a Level 6 qualification offered over two evenings per week between September and May. The Higher Certificate in Hospitality Services Management is suitable for people currently working in the hospitality industry, who want to gain a qualification and/or are seeking promotion to managerial positions in the sector. It may also suit mature students returning to learning, people seeking a career change or looking to start up their own hospitality business; or those who would like to develop their existing qualifications. It is a first step of an internationally recognised qualification with opportunities for progression in education or for career development.

DIT and the National Hygiene Partnership (NHP) have teamed up to offer students from the Higher Certificate in Hospitality Management a dual qualification for the Management of Food Safety and HACCP. Successful students receive the Management of Food Safety FSAI Level 3 Qualification from the NHP along with their DIT certification. In addition, students from this programme complete a ‘Train the Trainer’ qualification. They can then apply to the NHP for a licence to train staff in food safety in their own organisations.

Students from the Higher Certificate in Hospitality Services Management receiving Certificates of Excellence in HOUSE Dublin.

Students of the Higher Certificate in Hospitality Management Programme on a field trip to Kilkenny Restaurant

Students with their Management of Food Safety Certificates

We spoke to John Melia; General Manager of HOUSE Dublin on the importance of Staff Training & Development.

“Training is of huge importance to the management team here in HOUSE Dublin. We usually have a weekly session with the bar and/or floor teams to discuss anything from cocktails to wines, individual spirit brands, or a range of products. This weekly session is considered a vital part of everyone’s job here and we have found it benefits the individuals, the team, and the business as a whole. We have found that giving staff knowledge and skills helps increase their passion for the job and pride in their place of work. They [the staff ] see that we are focused on their personal development and everybody benefits from this.

We always aim to promote from within rather than hiring from outside to fill a supervisory or management role, and this too fits into the culture of development and high standards. This also leads to lower staff turnover and we feel that our time is better spent training our current staff to improve, rather than constantly inducting new people into the team. We are all about staff training and development”

Students from Higher Certificate in Hospitality Management Class of 2016 were presented with Awards of Excellence at a lunch in the Green Room restaurant in Cathal Brugha Street. Pictured are Andrew Grant (Student of the Year), Alina Iaconi and Veronika Zakar (Students of Excellence). Awards were presented by Jerry O’Sullivan, Noel Recruitment (Student of the Year Perpetual Trophy), Aine Doyle, Delata Group and Erika Barenscher, Aramark Group. Since graduating from the programme Andrew Grant has been promoted to Catering Manager in Beaumont Hospital, Alina Iaconi has progressed on to year 3 of the BA in Hospitality Management and Veronika Zakar has opened a seafood restaurant with her husband in Monkstown.

DIT

School of Hospitality Management and Tourism Cathal Brugha St. Dublin 1 www.dit.ie/hmt 01 402 4352 Twitter: @DITCathalB Facebook: DIT Cathal Brugha Street LinkedIn: DIT Cathal Brugha St.

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hotels

The Corscadden Dynasty

I had the pleasure recently of spending a morning in the stunning Bellingham Castle in Co Louth with Mitzie Corscadden. Now in her eighties, the matriarch of the Corscadden family, is still very much involved in the family business. The Corscadden Castles are unique in Ireland; they remain one of the few groups of castle hotels owned solely by the family. Over pots of tea Mitzie shared some of her adventures through the years and her business advice, proving her adventurous spirit is as keen as ever.

Mitzie Corscadden graduated from Shannon College of Hotel Management in 1953. Hers was the second class to graduate from Shannon, 11 young women and 11 young men graduated that year. “They trained us in every aspect of hotel management”, explains Mitzie. “It was the only place in Ireland where you were guaranteed a job and this was in the 1950’s when everyone else was emigrating from the country! It’s still the same now but they have 110 graduating. They have exchange programmes from the college and everywhere you go around the world you meet people who were trained in Shannon. Howard and Marnie, my son and daughter also went there”.

“We had a marvellous time in Shannon. The college would close for three months in the summer so I went to Brighton and Ascot on work experience.

In our final year we were sent to Germany. It was amazing, it was shortly after the second World War, which had only ended in 1945. I went to one end of the country and my friend Anne Moylett was sent to the other end. But I travelled up to where she was working and I talked my way into working in the

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same hotel as her! I’d chance anything! A lot of Germany was being rebuilt then. We worked there for 9 months and then we hitch-hiked all around Germany and we went to Paris then for two months.”

Mitzie continues, ”I started off being an assistant to a chamber maid because my German wasn’t good enough to be a chambermaid. We worked from 6am to 8pm and we didn’t think anything of it. You wouldn’t get anyone to work those hours now”.

“I got a job as assistant manager in the International Hotel in Bray after I graduated. It was a purpose built hotel, built in 1945 and owned by the Corscaddens. I was going out with a German man who was in Shannon on an exchange. His family had emigrated to Canada during the war and they started a restaurant over there. I thought that I’d to go to Canada with him and he bought my ticket for me. I handed in my notice in the International Hotel and went home to say goodbye to my parents. But my brother was going to be a priest, he drove me to the train and he said to me ‘you are going to Canada with a German who has no religion, don’t go’. So, I said ok I won’t”.

“There were three sons in the Corscadden family and the youngest son was Pappy. He brought me out to Kiliney Bay and he said to me ‘you’re not going to Canada now why don’t you stay here and marry me’. So, I did. But I wouldn’t marry him for a year and a half until my brother was ordained, I wanted my brother to marry us after he said his first mass so we went to Windsor and he married us. My husband is dead nine years now, we had great fun. We always worked together but what made us a good team was he was a night man and I was a day woman so that’s good for this business”.

“After the International Hotel in Bray I went to Woodbrook Golf Course.

I catered for the first Carroll’s International golf championship that was ever in Ireland. In those days people wanted bacon and cabbage, mixed grill, chicken and ham and steak. People didn’t go out to eat, they hadn’t the money. The Gresham was the place in the 1960’s and 1970’s but other than that there was very little catering”.

hotels

Unusually for a woman of her generation, Mitzie continued to work with her husband even after she was married. The couple started their own hotel, Mitzie explains, “there was a derelict building in Kildare town and we bought it in 1962 for £3,500 and that’s where we started. It had been a hospital and we turned it into a hotel, Derby House. I am forever indebted to Paddy Prendergast Junior and Paddy Osbourne Junior. Paddy Prendergast Senior was a leading horse trainer in Ireland in the early 1960’s and his son Paddy Junior was in training and he was a great attraction to people. I made the top floor of the hotel into apartments and they lived in Derby House and they brought a lot of people to the hotel. So a lot of the business at Derby House was through the horse world. It was a great time in my life”, says Mitzie.

When I ask Mitzie about surviving difficult times through the years she tells me about adaptability and taking chances when you come up against hard times. “I had an operation and I was off work for a year and a half and I had five children at this stage. I used to do a lot of the catering but I couldn’t do it for that year. So I was in a Chinese restaurant in Dawson St in Dublin during this time and it was only new and there weren’t many around. I asked to see the owner and I said to him, I have a kitchen in my hotel in Kildare would you like to rent it and he said ‘I’ll come down to see it tomorrow’. So I rented him the restaurant and he ran it and he got a lot of people in”.

“Pappy used to say ‘everything is for sale at the right price’. A man came into him in Derby House one day and said I heard this place is for sale so they agreed a price and Pappy sold it to him”, explains Mitzie.

However, now with children who had gone into the same business, Mitzie’s next hotel was one suggested by her son Howard. She says,“our next adventure was Cabra Castle.

Howard saw it for sale in the paper, he was working in Dromoland Castle at the time. I asked him what county is it in and he told me Cavan and I said well that’s the end of it, not for all the tea in China! Because there was only ever one All Ireland final played outside of Ireland and it was between Cavan and Kerry in New York and Cavan won it by a point and it has never been forgotten in Kerry. So, Howard said well I’m going up to see it anyway. We were very lucky. This was in 1991 and it was the only town in Ireland that had no unemployment because there was a lot of big factories there like Gypsum, Kingspan and Lagan Brick yards. I went to see Cabra Castle and when I saw it I liked it. There wasn’t a lot of castles around then, so the weddings took off in a big way”.

Mitzie’s children followed her into the same business and are the fourth generation to work in the industry. She explains,“I grew up in Kerry, so I insisted we buy Ballyseede Castle and Marnie, my daughter runs that now with her husband Rory.

Howard, my son runs Cabra castle with his wife Deirdre and my other son Adam. My youngest son Pappy-Jo runs Bellingham Castle with his partner Ciara”.

“Myself and my husband always loved old places. Markree Castle in Sligo is the latest place we bought, it’s taken two years to renovate but it’s a stunning building. The ballroom and the dining room are stunning. My husband was forever at auctions buying things and now Howard is the same as him”.

So given all her experience, what is Mitzie’s business advice?

“Really with hotels, you just have to be nice to people.

Mohamed Al-Fayed used to say to his staff in Harrods, ‘show them your teeth at all times’, meaning to smile. And I say the same thing to my staff, whether customers are giving out or praising you, smile”. The most important thing is to buy everything at the right price, at the right time. Everything we

bought had been closed for a few years before we bought them. We had to put a lot of work into them and we brought them all back to life. It wouldn’t interest me to buy something that’s been done.”

Mitzie not only enjoyed a wonderful career in the industry, but she managed to maintain friendships with her class from Shannon College. “Of my class who graduated from Shannon, there’s only three men still alive but all of the women lived until two years ago. One woman died two years ago but we met every two years for a weekend since we graduated. We weren’t allowed talk about businesses, husbands or children so we’d talk about Shannon. Last October they all came for a weekend here. Anne Moylett from the Downhilll Hotel in Ballina and I, we were the only two who went into this business. She died two weeks after we had the weekend here and I miss her. But there’s still nine of us left. I really enjoyed my career, you never know, I might go looking for that German fella yet!

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Portmarnock Hotel & Golf links

portmarnock hotel

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The appointment as manager of McGuinness, who previously spent time as part of the team at the K Club, coincided with a change in direction for the hotel, which is amid investment and market repositioning by owners Kennedy Wilson.

McGuinness quick to praise the ‘blank canvas’ approach taken by the property group: “They’re great to have as owners. They let you get on with it and they care about the property from the top down.” Alongside a physical overhaul seen throughout the 134 bedroom property, there has also been an emphasis on better determining the product offering for the venue across corporate and leisure markets, while at the same time assembling a team across the organisation to carry this out.

Amongst other targets, it is hoped that these steps along with the reinvestment will revitalise the hotels connection to key segments.

David McGuinness is hotel manager at the newly refurbished Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links. Here, he discusses his work so far since being appointed to the role in November 2015, along with his vision for the hotel going forward.

“I could see that Portmarnock was going to be successful as it had so much potential”, stated McGuinness, when detailing his initial thoughts on taking responsibility for the hotel side of trade – although hastening to add that the hotel had difficult years following the economic downturn.

However, given such potential along with the investment already shown by Kennedy Wilson he believes that the hotel is now on the verge of tapping into new markets to better capitalise on its unique location which draws interest from both a leisure and corporate perspective. Along with new ownership in the form of Kennedy Wilson, Resort Director Barry O’Connor has also been appointed, with McGuinness stating his belief that O’Connor’s “strong five star background” in the hospitality industry has proven a key to the properties success so far.

portmarnock hotel

Along with a subsidence in turnover during the economies worst years, a key issue facing the hotel according to McGuinness was the lack of a strong identity that corresponded with the local area. “From when we came in and looked at the property, we saw that this was a very unique property that needed investment”.

Besides a physical refurbishment, a strong emphasis has been put on reforming the identity of the hotel as a ‘luxury coastal golf and spa resort property’ with a greater emphasis on corporate events and weddings to compliment the strong golfing tradition on the Bernhard Langer designed course.

“It was no way defined within the marketplace” stated McGuinness on discussing the hotels previous standing, going on to add how the unparalleled location will be a key factor in enticing conference and events going forward, especially given the proximity of the property to the city centre, M50 and Dublin Airport. This has been reflected in the upgrading of conference facilities with a capacity of 300 and the inclusion of state of the art presentation screens. The local appeal of the venue is set to continue with an upgraded food offering in the Jameson Bar, which proves popular with those in the surrounding area. This will be seen in the form of high quality gastropub fare, although the physical character of the bar will be maintained.

With a renewal of the interior required as part of the hotels market realignment, it was a natural step for the new owners to use the surrounding area as the predominated influence in setting a tone for the décor, which will now feature lighter colour tones throughout. “The vision has been inspired from our coastal location and bringing the environment inside the hotel” with McGuinness noting the unique setting as a strong creative influence for the design. From an exterior aspect a new car park layout has been created for the convenience of guests along with a standout glass feature designed to create a designated entrance point while also allowing for greater amounts of natural light. “It was very much let the light in and to have a sense of arrival”, said McGuinness, who also detailed the greater connection that can now be felt between the main building and the surrounding coastline as part of the redevelopment works. “It was kind of like that we were hiding the sea, so we have opened that up to exploit and utilise the location”.

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portmarnock hotel

There was a good team in place at Portmarnock, McGuinness, pointing to the more established individuals amongst the staff, some of whom have recorded twenty-five years of service at the hotel. This team has been added to, with new appointments to the new food and beverage team such as local man Derek Yu who joins the team at Portmarnock from Chapter One Restaurant and the new Executive Head Chef Tom Walsh. One of the key tasks facing those employed at Portmarnock is bringing people back through the doors of the hotel given the fall away in certain segments that has been experienced in recent times. “We have a super property and we offer great value for money”, declared McGuinness stating that an important principle in achieving a strong return will be raising standards to a higher level throughout the property whilst also providing value. The process of conveying that message to potential guests is underway with a strong emphasis on standards being brought into focus at the hotel, as in the words of McGuinness “it’s about making each guest feel special”.

For McGuinness the target for the coming year will now centre on increasing the reputation of

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portmarnock hotel the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links as a destination. “In twelve months I hope that this property will be known throughout the country as a luxury coastal resort that is of a very high standard, offering exceptional service and a great reputation for its food offering, its rooms, golf and spa”. With a sufficient amount of background work complete, this year will see increased PR activity by the hotel in order to increase the awareness of the repositioned brand. This is being carried out in conjunction with the implementation of new standards throughout the property. “We have the physical product with refurbishment complete”, stated McGuinness adding that the challenges presented as part of the redevelopment work has presented a great learning curve for future goals.

With the most arduous work complete, the team behind the Portmarnock Hotel now focus upon bringing the new product to fruition. In the eyes of McGuinness if these targets are achieved, the hotel should eclipse its previous status to become the premium resort property in Dublin.

Patton Interiors Limited

Unit 32c Rosemount Business Park, Blanchardstown Dublin 11. D11 HD9C. Tel + 353 1 8853113 www.pattoninteriors.com mail@pattoninteriors.com

If you are Dining or enjoying a drink at Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links the chances are you won’t hear about Brodericks.

And that is the way it should be.

You see our job is to work behind the scenes ensuring that Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links catering equipment is in tip top condition.

By relying on Brodericks their chefs can concentrate on serving guests the most sumptuous food.

Turnkey Fit-out Provided to Bedrooms, Bathroom and Corridors at the newly Refurbished Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links

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social media

L

et’s devote our attention to eating

According to research by Musgraves marketplace, food images were among the top content shared across social media platforms last year.

We have all seen it, we’re in a restaurant, the food arrives and someone in your company takes out their phone and starts taking photos of the food! So it got us thinking, how have our dining experiences changed since the mobile phone but also since the advent of social media. Is the dining experience now only about the photo we can share on instagram or Facebook or do we still value eating as a time of communication, sharing and connection? We spoke to some well known people in the industry and asked them their thoughts.

Pauline continues, “From a business point of view it’s lovely for us if someone shares a photo of our food, but we don’t want it to be disturbing for any other diners. The industry is responsible to a degree in pushing mobile use but it’s the individual who still has control over how they use their phone and they can use their phone responsibly. I think social media can be great fun, it’s very sociable and when it’s used in moderation it’s a great media. But I think everyone should be conscious of the value we are putting on our phones and how we use them”.

“We request that the use of mobile phones and laptops be restricted to the bar area”. This is the request that Derry Clarke has on his menus.

He explains, “We have that policy for a good few years now and we introduced it for a few reasons; firstly it’s very off-putting for people who don’t use mobile devices when they’re eating. Most people shout when they’re on the phone so again that can disturb other diners and also there’s a cost to the restaurant. To be honest I think people should be thanking us because we have tried to create a stress-free zone for people to enjoy their meal with the company they’re in. It’s a time to switch off”.

But has the rise in popularity of “celebrity chefs” added to the increase of food being shared so much across social media? Chef Adrian is one of the countries best known chefs. Following 6 years working with Nevin Maguire, chef Adrian made the decision to make a name for himself in the industry but felt he had to leave the restaurant business to do it. He explains, “most of my friends are chefs and about four years ago we all decided that there wasn’t really a sustainable future for us in the business as chefs, so we all decided to go to Australia. But I changed my mind and I decided I’d go out on my own and see could I create a brand myself here”.

Derry is passionate about his effort to keep the dining experience one of communication and pleasure. “One of the saddest things I saw recently was a family of four, mum; dad, son and daughter eating in a restaurant and all four of them were on their i-phones throughout the entire meal. They spoke to the waiter to give their order and apart from that they ate their food with a fork in one hand and their phones in the other. At the end of the meal the father spoke to the waiter again to pay the bill. That was the extent of the communication during that meal. It really saddened me to see that. Technology has taken the art of communication from us”.

He continues, “social media was crucial for me in doing this. I use social media to share recipes, to promote TV shows I do and other events I might be involved in around the country and it has helped me build my career. I eat out a lot though and when I do, I never use my phone or take pictures of the food. For me food isn’t about a picture I can keep, it’s about the smells, the tastes the enjoyment of the food, the company I’m in. I don’t need to have my head stuck in a phone to remember that!”

However, despite what we may feel about mobile devices, the reality is, we cannot escape them and how they are now intrinsic to our lives and in recent years, to the fabric of our industry. Derry says, “as a business I have to have a social media presence. I can’t escape that. I have to have an online booking facility; people won’t make a phone- call to book a table in a restaurant anymore! People are using their phones for absolutely everything now. But the interesting thing is in France, Spain, Italy or Scandinavia you won’t see people on their phones in a restaurant. In the States, it’s the opposite. In the States people have their food in one hand and their phone in the other”.

Kelly’s Resort Hotel and Spa in Wexford have also had a similar request on their menu for the last number of years. Pauline Power, marketing manager of the hotel explains why they introduced the policy. “We request that people try to keep both the bar, La Marine and our main dining room, mobile free zones. What we’ve found is that people really respect this and become more conscious of using their phones. We find people will leave the dinning room to take a call for example and keep their phones on silent. But usually we just see people using their phones as cameras and that’s making a memory which is nice for us to see”.

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For chef Adrian the interaction with the public that social media allows has been positive and negative. He says,”when I was growing up I used to love watching Jamie Oliver, I really looked up to him, but there was nowhere I could go to express my feelings about his cooking or his recipes. I respond to comments that are made about the recipes I post, the positive and negative ones. If someone is negative about something I post I never get into an argument, I suggest alternatives or suggest they could check out some of my other recipes”.

Recently, a recipe by chef Adrian for a healthy spice bag went viral, causing a lot of discussion on social media. “I discovered that a spice bag and chicken Tikka Masala are Ireland’s most popular take-away meals. So I decided to come up with a healthy option for a spice bag.

I posted it on social media and it went viral and there was massive debate about it!”

So whether we love it or loath it we can’t get away from the power social media can have in our lives. However, we can decide how much power we give it, particularly around the dinner table. As Luciano Pavarotti said “one of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating”.

*NEW ocean collection

*NEW ember collection

Two New

COLOURS As used at the 2017 NIHf ‘Taste of Tourism’ by Chef Jun Tanaka. is a beautiful new tableware range that combines shape, texture and colour in a way that is designed to elevate and enhance the entire dining experience. Inspired by the hand-thrown style of pottery design studios, Artisan offers something truly unique. It combines the look of a hand-crafted product with the strength, consistency and durability.

Artisan is designed and distrubuted exclusively by Bunzl.

www.bunzlmclaughlin.com

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So it’s no wonder that Flogas is the choice of so many chefs, including Neven Maguire of MacNean House & Restaurant in Blacklion, Co. Cavan.

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Wherever you are

design

far & wide reaching

John Duffy

Design

John Duffy of John Duffy Design Group of 23/24 The Crescent Monkstown Co. Dublin, specialises in the hospitality sector. He has over 30 years experience of design and refurbishment in this sector, nationally and Internationally, Ethiopia, Kenya, Benin, Gabon, Kazakhstan and closer to home, Germany and Malta. But today, we have asked him to tell us about some of his current Irish projects, one of which is Pat Leneghan’s Bridgehouse Hotel Tullamore. This involved substantial investment and total refurbishment in the creation of a luxurious restaurant/ bar with an all day bistro (with theatre style Wok service) come late night venue. The bar features contemporary lighting, luxurious finishes including specially designed mosaic floor tiling and metal screens. The resulting exciting and vibrant space has generated considerable new business.

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design Other current projects include the bar Restaurant and foyer of The Sandymount Hotel, significant redesign of the City North Hotel, ballroom, bar and food service areas, design for 150 bedrooms, foyer bar and restaurant of the new Iveagh Garden Hotel in Harcourt St. Dublin. John and his team have in recent months created Greg O’Mahoney’s Ember restaurant, it’s dynamic cutting edge features attracting customers in large numbers to savour innovative cuisine at attractive prices.

John Duffy Design Group (unlike most other design groups in this sector) offers a professional and comprehensive one - stop shop service to the client from initial planning applications right through to fire certification and Assigned Certification under the 2016 Building Regulations. “We have the extensive track record and working knowledge of how the hospitality sector functions to permit us uniquely to offer creative design solutions.”

Irelands project lighting supplier Hotel & Office Interior’s International Ltd Suppliers of bespoke Axminster carpet to the hotel and leisure industry

Pleased to be associated with the Bridge House Hotel refurbishment project.

Mark Finnerty 304 Sutton Park, Sutton, Dublin D13 H9P8 087 2492442 mark@markfinnerty.ie

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For further information contact us at Unit 2A Ballyhimmon Business Park Castlecomer Co. Kilkenny

Tel: +353 (0) 56 440 0861 www.nirvanalighting.com

design

Notwithstanding his extensive experience overseas, he has just finished his 7th hotel in Ethiopia, John is extraordinarily upbeat and invigorated about what Ireland is well placed to offer, “ Well, I think we have currently a unique opportunity in Dublin for a ‘pod’ style hotel, with smaller bedrooms and we have designed some as compact as 12 sq. m. Such hotels will attract a younger savvy guest whose main priorities are a comfortable bed, latest technologies including a Smart T.V., a good shower at budget prices. He cites Citizen M a European brand as an example of what can be offered to the marketplace today.

Finally John concludes “we are offering value for money, very close to the heart of investors in hospitality today, intent on effecting high quality refurbishment from existing cash flow.“ His advice to them is “research your market well, plan carefully in order to maximise a return on either a new or a refurbishment project”. He adds, “we are still here after 30 years and hundreds of satisfied returning clients and are going forward with optimism.”

“

hundreds of satisfied returning clients

”

PM Sepa is a specialist fit out company, with over 40 years experience in the hospitality industry, offering a complete turnkey project management service.

At PM Sepa our knowledge and experience allows us to offer our clients spatial solutions, innovations in design and tailored advice that will bring your concept to life.

See our web site for further information

pmsepa.ie

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accessibility

Levelling the field In today’s marketing world, niche advertising is what it’s all about. Hotels and restaurants indulge less and less in general advertising – getting the message out loud and clear so that the greatest number of people hear it.

Instead, it’s all about identifying your niche and, through the power of smart advertising, going after it with all you’ve got.

One niche worth looking at is that of the disability sector. Over recent decades, we have seen a plethora of laws and directives that have contributed to levelling the field between the fully mobile and the less mobile when it comes to access to restaurants, hotels or other venues.

It’s a sign of progression in our society but just how much of this consists of hotels and restaurants ticking boxes merely to comply with the law? Have we really become a disability-friendly country? Are any businesses going beyond the basic legal requirement and making disabled customers just as welcome or even more welcome than their able-bodied companions?

In Ireland alone, there are approximately 40,000 wheelchair users.

When you consider that your average disabled customer will have their entourage of able-bodied dining companions and friends with them, you have a very sizeable niche market, but is it a niche that anyone in the catering industry is taking seriously?

Louise Bruton is a journalist and wheelchair-user who has written extensively on the subject of wheelchair access in Dublin. According to her, certain structural issues aside, we don’t fare too badly in an international sense:

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“

Are we going to cater for wheelchair users or not?

”

accessibility

“In terms of comparison, I would always use New York, Paris and London as examples,” she says, “and in those terms, Dublin is far ahead.”

It must be noted, however, that positive as this sounds, when she talks of places that are accessible to wheelchair users, she’s talking about “maybe 20% of restaurants and cafés, compared to the 100% that everyone else has access to.”

Restaurants and hotels in our capital city, she says, are making strong strides to cater for the sector. If she has any difficulty getting into one particular restaurant, it’s easy to find another where access is not a problem. Within the higher-quality category of restauration, however, accessibility is more restricted: “Because Dublin is a Georgian city, it tends to be the case that the Michelin-star restaurants or the well-known restaurants are located in the basement of these old buildings. That’s an ongoing obstacle that I’d have but things are definitely improving. I live in the Rathgar/ Rathmines area and any new restaurants and cafes that have popped up there in recent months have all been perfect in terms of wheelchair accessibility… people are thinking about it more than they were five years ago.”

“I think that Dublin has come on over the last 10 years,” says Joan Carthy, National Advocacy Officer of the Irish Wheelchair Association, “but we still have a very long way to go.”

Carthy says that a lot more work is needed in terms of everyone involved thinking through just what it means to make a venue accessible. Laws here, she says, are always expressed with caveats such as “recommendation” and “where possible”, meaning that many places do tick the boxes to comply with accessibility but not all of them are actually accessible.

“The Honest-to-Goodness Café on Dame Court is one place that really pushes the boat out in terms of making someone like me feel welcome. They moved premises – they used to be in a very pokey location but now they’re in a brand new building. They’ve got a lower till. If you have a place with a lower till, you’re able to pay your money without reaching up or having the person behind the till looking down on your so… it’s the small details like that that really make a difference.”

Louise also mentions The TwoFifty Square in Rathmines and the Brasserie Sixty6 on Georges Street as two restaurants where a concerted effort is made to make everyone feel welcome.

Dublin City Council did launch an Access Guide some years ago that was designed to make Dublin “one of the most accessible cities in the world”.

According to current Access Officer Pat Nestor, however, the initiative became a victim of recession-induced cutbacks and when the budget to maintain the site was withdrawn, the information site closed. Such an act of seemingly wanton vandalism from the powers that be is hardly indicative of a republic interested in making the disabled sector of its society as welcome as the rest of us.

In the meantime, Dublin City Council finds itself reduced to possibly wellmeaning but zero-funded initiatives such as a forthcoming access awareness campaign from the current Lord Mayor Brendan Carr; due to come out over the coming weeks and which, says Nestor, is aimed specifically at the catering sector: “He’ll be looking for input from the hotel and hospitality sector specifically to raise awareness of what simple things people can do to make access better – being aware of where you park your bike, for example… Access is a high priority of the current Lord Mayor.”

In many ways, it is the smartphone revolution that has facilitated progress in dragging the catering business into a change of attitude towards the disabled sector. American-based website Mobility Mojo and even Google Maps act as a kind-of Tripadvisor for disabled diners and tourists in rating venues in terms of their accessibility. In the absence of government putting their money where their mouth is, it may be that private apps will be the ones to effect the fastest change in this area for the foreseeable future.

“As a wheelchair user, you can’t do anything spontaneously… In a lot of cases, what might be on a lot of websites of hotels and venues, you would still need to double-check beforehand to make sure that the hotel’s understanding of access is the same as yours. For example, the entrance might be wheelchair accessible but they might not have a fully accessible toilet.”

The lack of understanding of access issues, she says, is often evident at conceptual stages of buildings. There are examples of places where buildings have made allowances for fully accessible toilets, but which are located up a step.

In a country with an ageing population, the attitude for restaurants and other public-access facilities should be more focused on how “what’s going to facilitate the population best, as opposed to it always coming around to ‘Are we going to cater for wheelchair users or not?’ We actually need to cater for the general population.”

According to Bruton, a number of restaurants are taking steps to be ahead of the curve and to take the niche of the lesser-able-bodied sector seriously.

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IFSA news The IFSA Golf Society Diary Date – 1st Outing - Thurs 27th April at the GRANGE GOLF CLUB Contact Catherine Bennett at 087 120 8015 Brenden Fetherston 087 258 0417 Joe Gallaher 087 258 0418 for more information.

Food&Bev Live 2018 Serves up New Partnership for the Industry

Food & Bev Live is now a joint venture, owned by IFSA and RAI and organised by EventHaus Ltd. Larry Smith, Chairman of IFSA comments: “We are constantly reviewing and improving the Food & Bev Live formula and I am delighted that we’re partnering with the Restaurant Association of Ireland for 2018. The RAI will join IFSA to host a new element to the event -the Hospitality Tech Forum - which will feature some of Europe’s leading providers of technology solutions to the Foodservice and Hospitality sectors.

“There has been extensive growth in the foodservice industry since Food & Bev Live’s last event in 2016 and CATEX 2017 demonstrated the vibrancy in the sector with an increase of 10% in visitors. For 2018, we anticipate another record turnout when hospitality operators gather to source the best products and celebrate the greatest talent in the industry.”

With technology advancements helping to streamline processes within the restaurant sector, the show’s organisers are excepting the new addition of the Technology Forum to be a major draw for restaurant owners and proprietors of hospitality businesses.

Adrian Cummins, CEO, Restaurants Association of Ireland adds: “Food & Bev Live is a unique trade event that caters to those owning, operating and working in hospitality and leisure establishments across Ireland and Europe. As THE Trade event for the sector in 2018, we are delighted to be involved in the show for the first time.

Food & Bev Live has a history of providing a vibrant platform to touch, taste and experience an exciting and eclectic mix of undiscovered brands and household names and next year’s event will be no exception. The show will demonstrate the huge breadth of ingenuity across the industry and will play host to a range of National skills competitions including: - The National Barista Championships organised by the Irish Chapter of the Speciality Coffee Association of Ireland, SCAE Ireland - The Irish Cocktail Championships organised by the Bartenders Association of Ireland - The Chef Ireland Culinary Competitions, organised by the Panel of Chefs of Ireland - The Contract Caterers Competition Also returning to Food & Bev Live is the renowned Euro-Toques Ireland Live stage, Chef’s Choice village and Chef Network area. Supported by Bunzl McLaughlin, Food & Bev Live 2018 is already attracting a lot of interest.

Contact niamh.kenny@eventhaus.ie to book your stand or www.foodandbev.ie for more information.

DAVY Business Breakfast Series Breakfast with Pat McCann, Dalata Hotel Group

The Business Breakfast Series, hosted by DAVY Private Clients continued with a business breakfast with Pat McCann, CEO of Dalata Hotel Group in Davy House on Tuesday, 28th March. Graham Cawley of Davy Private Clients chatted extensively in front of 70 members and guests at DAVY House, Dawson street to Pat about Dalata Hotel Group, emerging trends in the hospitality sector and the food service industry.

Multi Release Products

are fabricators and suppliers of high quality PTFE (Teflon) and Silicone products to catering, food Multi Release Products processing, and packaging and catering industries.

We are based in Innova Business Park Castlepollard Co Westmeath our company has 10 years experience in Teflon and silicone fabrication we offer next day delivery for all products.

Our range of catering products includes: • Mesh and solid Teflon trays for use in combi high speed cooking ovens.

• Teflon sheets and disks • Silicone cooking mats in a range of sizes • Silicone molds catering quality • Teflon cake tin liners 1lb, 2lb and round tin liners • Teflon and Silicone sheets for vertical bun toasters • Food processing belts • Teflon adhesive backed tapes for heat sealing and vacuum packaging machines.

We also offer TEFLON spraying service of metal cooking trays All our quality products come with full EU and FDA food contact approval certification Our in house fabrication department allows us to design and fabricate products to any specific shape or application requirement.

For further information visit www.mrp.ie/catering Email info@mrp.ie Tel 00353449661992

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IFSA news

Flahavan’s

A family business since 1905, M&P O’Sullivan Ltd, now into its fourth generation, are a Foodservice distributor operating out of a 40,000 sq. ft. distribution facility Cork. A key driver of our growth is our continued passion to provide unrivalled levels of customer service to all of our customers, both big and small. We believe in providing our customers with only the best in value, product range and support as it is only through their success that we can realise our success.

With more than 8,000 product lines stocked in a multi temp distribution facility, M&P O’Sullivan provide a local solution to fast, high quality food distribution.

Our extensive range of frozen, chilled and ambient products offer chefs and caterers everything they may need, from the big well-known brands to locally produced artisan products. We have the product selection and purchasing power to compete nationally, but it’s our flexibility that allows us to thrive locally.

At M&P O’Sullivan we place the customer at the forefront of our business.

Our goal is provide an exceptional service experience, from their interaction with our seasoned sales team to expert order picking to deliveries to suit their requirements. We take great pride in our lasting relationships with customers which have been built on the core values of impeccable service and unbeatable value.

More information about M&P O’Sullivan can be found online at www.mpos.ie

recently launched their Foodservice product range at Catex 2017. There was an excellent reaction to the product range, especially the bespoke range of Foodservice Tubs of their most popular products, which are perfect for use in Hotel kitchens. In addition,Flahavan’s can offer a hot porridge solution to guests who book out early? Flahavan’s new Goodness To Go breakfast pots would be the ideal solution.

Finally, we also have a range of four varieties of Flahavan’s Irish Oaty Flapjacks in single serve display case of 24. Flahavan’s Flapjacks could be a wholesome addition to your in-room/coffee trays or to hotel picnic baskets.

Flahavan’s is a trusted household Irish brand that has been synonymous with wholesome goodness and health for generations. It has been milling the best of Irish oats beside the river Mahon in Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford for over 200 years, making it one of the longest private Irish family- run food businesses in Ireland. In response to the growing demand for bespoke Foodservice product ranges, Flahavan’s have recently established a Foodservice division. Products specifically produced and packed for the Foodservice sector include Progress Oatlets 4Kg ,Organic Oatlets 4Kg, Muesli 4Kg, Granola 5Kg, Flapjacks single serve 24’s and an exciting range of “Goodness To Go” pots which include Muesli, Granola, Porridge Original and Porridge Red Berry.

Tom’s Table

The kitchen table is the heart of the family home, and here at it is the heart of our hotel. Built, owned and run by the Moran family, Tom’s Table at the Red Cow Moran Hotel is named after the head of our family, Tom Moran.

Tom hails from a large family & has a large family himself, so he appreciates as much as anyone how important the family table is, as a means of bringing everyone together.

Our main sharing table is inspired by the actual table that sits in Tom’s family home in Athea, West Limerick, built by his own hand as a young apprentice carpenter and represents family, tradition, comfort, community and the pleasures of sharing.

Renowned for its variety and quality of dining and beverage options, The Red Cow Moran Hotel Dublin is the ideal choice for hotel guests aswell as locals to relax, eat and drink and the perfect meeting place for lunch or dinner with friends, family or work colleagues.

Planning a family celebration for a upcoming Communion, Christening, Wedding or indeed any family event? The Palux Maitre Cooking suite is at the heart of Toms Table.

Cuisinequip Tailoring Induction for Top Chefs Multinational technology and expertise are built into Cuisinequips induction technology now being snapped up in bespoke cooking sweets by some of the UK’s top chefs and restaurants including the Galvin Brothers, Adam Handling, Nigel Mendham at The Dukes Hotel and Sydney Aldridge at 45 Jermyn Street.

Designed to last using Swiss technology Cuisinequips induction is engineered and manufactured by Austrian family business HWM. With quality engineering and precise control HWM induction has been specified into a number of cooking suites for high profile restaurants where quality and reliability matters.

Cuisinequip’s induction is being combined with other cooking systems for cooking suites in high pressure environments the following reasons: • To reduce environmental impact from professional kitchens • Improve working environments • Built in modular and free-standing options • To deliver efficient and profitable cooking systems • Engineering quality for a long working life, backed by excellent service, warranties and availability of spare parts across the UK. Cuisinequip’s Steve Elliott worked with Fortnum & Mason’s Executive Head Chef Sydney Aldridge to develop the bespoke range for the 45 Jermyn Street restaurant. At its heart are 8 x 8kw induction zones in an ergonomic design to allow for the maximum number of free flowing workstations in this busy kitchen.The range is 3.2m x 2m and forms the heart of the kitchen, providing the platform for the majority of the prime cooking and finishing for the restaurant.

Contact Cuisinequip on Tel: 0118 957 1344 www.cuisinequip.com

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IFSA news Robot-Coupe, the inventor and leading manufacturer of

commercial food preparation equipment, has been serving chefs and providing food preparation solutions since 1960.

Robot-Coupe has the largest offering of commercial equipment in the world. Its wide range of machines adapts to the needs of every professional in all kinds of contexts, including restaurants, institutions, delicatessens and caterers, and is available in 130 countries through its network of distributors.

Robot-Coupe’s distribution partners guarantee sales, installation and after-sales customer service and its dedicated sales team is available to provide direct assistance to chefs in selecting the best solution for their kitchens. Chefs all over the world put their trust in Robot-Coupe to supply innovative, environmentally responsible food preparation solutions that save labour, time and money.

Robot-Coupe offers free, no obligation demonstrations in end users’ kitchens, with training and after-sales support for all its products ranging from vegetable preparation machines, vertical and table top cutter mixers, food processors (combined cutters and vegetable preparation machines), Blixers, power mixers, juicers and automatic sieves.

At CATEX this year Robot-Coupe showcased its latest innovations.

The Robot Cook®, the first professional cooking cutting blender, is a particularly popular product that enables users to emulsify, grind, blend, chop, mix, and knead sweet and savoury foods, of hot and cold consistencies, with incomparable ease. Robot-Coupe also demonstrated the MicroMix® stick blender, which produces a perfect emulsion in seconds.

For more information, please visit the website www.robot-coupe.com Telephone +44 (0) 20 8232 1800 or email sales@robotcoupe.co.uk

Opening of £1.6m HQ signals new era for Mount Charles

The Mount Charles senior team at the official opening of Annon House: Leann Duffy, Cathal Geoghegan, Margaret Allen, Jonathan McKinlay, Trevor Annon, Ian Todd and Julie Brown Mount Charles, Ireland’s largest indigenous foodservice and business support organisation has invested £1.6million sterling in a new 10,000 square foot headquarters in Belfast.

The state-of-the-art building is now home to around 50 head office employees, with the company employing more than 2,100 people in total across Ireland and Great Britain.

Mount Charles worked together with Mascott Construction to bring their vision for Annon House to life, creating an open plan concept with colourful shared spaces and break-out areas with industrial touches and high-tech features that will encourage better collaboration and creativity between departments.

Managing Director of Mount Charles Cathal Geoghegan said: “We’ve undergone a period of fairly significant change, both in terms of our people and this recent investment in our wonderful new company headquarters.

“We see the investment in Annon House not only as a suitable reflection of the dynamic, creative company that Mount Charles is, but also as a serious statement of intent both to our people and to the wider economy.

“There remains massive scope for our continued expansion and diversification.

Our revenues as of September 2016 totalled £31m and we have recently outlined our ambitious plans for ‘The Road to £50m’ whereby we aim to achieve revenues of that amount by 2020.

“Our vision is simple; to be both a business partner and employer of choice throughout Ireland. The launch of Annon House together with the dynamic senior team we’ve assembled over the past 12 months marks the beginning of a new era, and it’s one that we’re incredibly excited about,” added Mr Geoghegan.

Mount Charles spans catering, cleaning, vending, security and outside event food & beverage divisions.

M&S In-store Catering Team Solves Grease Problem Challenge Here at Michael Flannery Catering Supplies Ltd, we are delighted to announce the launch of our new website! Our new site features an online store with over 3000 products on offer. We pride ourselves on providing the best value for money, and with our new clearance section and monthly website specials, we can offer even better value! Keep up to date with all of our latest offers and news by following us on Facebook and Twitter. To celebrate the launch of our new online store, we are running an exciting competition on Facebook, click on our Facebook link below, and like and share to be in with a chance to win a professional knife set! www.flannerygroup.ie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ FlanneryGroupIreland Twitter: https://twitter.com/Flannery_Group 56

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Kitchen staff based at Marks & Spencer’s store in Bloomfield, Bangor, Northern Ireland had been experiencing significant problems with the disposal of fats, oils and grease which resulted from every day food preparation and waste.

The existing 500 litre grease trap needed pumping out at least once a month, which was an expensive and unwelcome interruption to an already busy working environment. And the unpleasant smells that emanated from the trapped grease were blighting nearby food and clothing stores.

Solution

Kingspan Sensor’s expert team with partners McLaughlin Harvey conducted an on-site survey before recommending replacing the trap with the innovative new Smart Serv Grease System.

Since installation, The System has proved a huge success. Pump-out frequency has been reduced to once every three months, lowering operations costs by an estimated £2,600 per annum.

The System’s smart remote-monitoring capability means the service company can respond before the trap becomes full.

Furthermore, the outlet pipes are clearer and the quality of the effluent discharged into the drains has improved; a key benefit for Marks & Spencer in supporting its ‘green philosophy’.

Gary Mc Clernon, Account Manager for Mc Loughlin Harvey advises, “Kingspan Sensor’s System clearly demonstrates that disposing of fats, oils and grease can be done simply, easily, at far lower cost, and with the minimum of disruption in even the busiest kitchens. It’s a solution which more than fulfils the brief.”

For more information Call : 0333 240 6868 Email: foodwaste@kingspan.com Web: www.kingspanenviro.com/foodwaste

hotel of the year

Ashford Castle

named AA Hotel of the Year 2017 Ashford Castle has been named as the AA Hotel of the Year 2017, the most prestigious prize in the Irish hospitality industry. Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Patrick O’Donovan TD presented the award to General Manager Niall Rochford in a ceremony held in Dublin this evening (6th April).

“Ashford Castle is one of Irish tourism’s finest assets.”said AA Director of Consumer Affairs Conor Faughnan. “This icon of Irish heritage has become one of the finest Hotels in the world. It takes a lot to impress an AA Inspectors; they judge by the most exacting standards in the industry. Ashford Castle’s beauty is breath-taking and the investments made by owners the Red Carnation Group are evident throughout the Castle and grounds. What is more important though is the standards of friendliness, professionalism and warmth shown by the entire team. Ashford Castle is a wonderful representation of everything that Irish tourism does so well. We are proud to name them as AA Hotel of the Year for 2017.”

Commenting on the award, Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Patrick O’Donovan said: “Congratulations to Ashford Castle on winning the enormously impressive accolade of AA Hotel of the Year.

Irish tourism has been one of the great success stories of the last decade, coming through very troubled times by being far-sighted, hard-working and relentlessly committed to quality and value. Combining this remarkable heritage property with friendly, professional staff, a warm welcome and excellent service, Ashford Castle is a shining example of what a wonderful experience Ireland offers to visitors.

The AA inspection team was particularly impressed with the warmth and welcome from all the team and the level of service throughout the entire hotel. It is a 5 Star hotel that also manages to be an intimate and friendly place for the people who visit, allowing them to relax and enjoy their surroundings. Whilst it has been a star performer over many years, the recent major investment by Red Carnation Hotels has brought it to the highest level possible in terms of luxury and quality.

On accepting the award, General Manager Niall Rochford said: “It is a privilege for me to accept the award for AA Hotel of the Year 2017 on behalf of the team at Ashford Castle and Red Carnation Hotels.Our Founder and President of Red Carnation Hotels, Mrs Beatrice Tollman, and her entire family should be applauded not just for their investment in Ashford Castle, but for their belief in our team’s ability to deliver world class experiences to all our guests.Following their epic restoration of the Castle in 2015, we have had incredible global recognition for the guest experience Ashford Castle delivers. This award, acknowledges the hard work and commitment of everyone on our team and my hope is for our continued success long into the future.”

The AA uses highly trained and experienced inspectors to personally visit every AA accredited hotel for an overnight stay. The assessments of the standards of hospitality, service, cuisine, facilities and staff are the most exacting in the industry. Winners are selected in recognition of excellence in service and hospitality, as well as a clear demonstration of continuous improvement in the preceding 12-18 months.

For a hotel even to be considered it must have displayed excellence over time. A hotel that achieves the accolade of AA Hotel of the Year can reasonably claim to be the best hotel in Ireland in its category. The award does not necessarily go to a five star hotel, although it does this year.

Other major award winners at the AA ceremony this evening were: AA Guest Accommodation of the Year: Rolf’s Country House, Baltimore, Co. Cork.

Run by siblings Johannes and Freiderike Haffner, the Country House employs a team of small local team of staff, all dedicated to delivering culinary excellence and hospitality.

AA Courtesy & Care Award: The Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin.

The Courtesy & Care award is a testament to excellence in customer care executed by hospitality staff and is not granted lightly. It is a reflection of the staff at an establishment rather than the buildings and grounds. An honour of a personal nature, the AA Courtesy & Care award reflects an establishment in which an AA Inspector would choose to stay themselves or to bring their own families.

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natural gas

Natural Gas, the cheaper, faster solution for your business Gas Networks Ireland is proudly sponsoring TV3 ‘The Restaurant’ - National Sales Manager, Mark Holohan with celebrity chefs - Anton Savage, Gráinne Seoige, Maria Walsh, Bobby Kerr, Sonya Lennon and Brendan Courtney.

Developers will tell you that a kitchen can sell a house, but smart developers know that natural gas appliances can sell the kitchen.

Profession chefs often insist on cooking with natural gas having first-hand experience of its versatility, reliability and cost effectiveness. Natural gas is one of the cheapest, cleanest and most efficient fossil fuels. Whether it’s hot water, cooking on a large scale or even generating your own electricity on-site, natural gas is the best solution for all types of business. Here are a few of the factors which contribute to this:

Reduced Running Costs:

Over half of all Irish businesses have taken action to improve their energy efficiency in the last three years, according to a survey conducted by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

Details of the survey revealed that reduced energy costs is a key priority for Irish businesses.

Changing to natural gas can generate savings of up to:

a 70% savings on switching from electricity a 60% savings on switching from LPG (cylinders) a 40% savings on switching from LPG (bulk) a 45% savings switching from oil

All prices used are based on average seasonal efficiencies of each fuel type.

Taken from SEAI figures (January 2017)

Whether you spend very little time cooking or you are cooking on a regular basis in a large facility like ‘The Restaurant’, cost becomes a massive factor when choosing your heating source.

Electricity, LPG or oil is a far more expensive form of energy source for cooking, when compared to natural gas. Comparing both commercial ovens similar in size, ‘A’ rated and modern, the electric oven will cost an average of 14 cent per KWh while the gas oven cost 4 cent per KWh saving 70% on your running costs.

(SEAI figures January 2017) Meaning you can cook and save at the same time.

Control:

Commercially run kitchens often prefer cooking with natural the difference between electric and natural gas heat becomes more notable when you shift to the exposed burner at the hob.

Recognised as a more accessible fuel choice, natural gas is more accessible to control the level of heat, with gas holding a lot more safety as electric hobs take time to heat up and cool off. Gas tends to have a larger range of settings because you can turn the control knob in minuscule increments. As natural gas is ‘instant’, there is no waiting around for hobs to heat up or waiting for them

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to cool down, important in commercial restaurants where the customers need to be served as quickly as possible.

Convenience:

Gas Networks Ireland take pride in how convenient, comfortable and reliability your natural gas service can be. Professional chefs like Marco Pierre White recognise the benefits of constant and uninterrupted supply of natural gas piped direct to their restaurant in Dublin 4. In keeping with the uninterrupted supply, it is piped directly to the premises which means natural gas is also ready to perform when you need it with no orders or deliveries.

Cleaner for the Environment:

Using natural gas helps to reduce carbon and other emissions, which benefits our health and the environment. All fossil fuels when ignited will cause emissions to the atmosphere and all of these fuels will emit CO2 emissions.

However, in comparison to other fossil fuels nature gas produces the lowest amount of C02 in fact, using natural gas will reduce your carbon emissions by 40 – 60 % (Figures Taken from SEAI figures January 2017). Made up of more than 95% pure methane, natural gas produces negligible levels of nitric oxide, sulphur, and particulates compared to oil or coal.

Versatility:

Choosing to switch to natural gas offers much more than an efficient way of cook within your business. We encourage commercial customers to take advantage of the range of appliances natural gas can power. Natural gas can be used for almost all applications, including:

aCatering/Cooking aHeating and hot water aAir conditioning/chillers aAir handing units

Example of Customer Switching to Natural Gas

Set in the heart of Galway’s bustling Latin Quarter, McDonagh’s Fish and Chip Bar is a family run award winning eatery. Serving a variety of quality fish, this Quay Street restaurant is a favourite with the locals and tourists alike.

“Before we connected to natural gas we were using more than 10 Cylinders of LPG a week. All our equipment was on LPG so switching to Natural gas saved us over €12,000 a year which helped us pay for our new Equipment during our renovations.”

-Colm McDonagh, proprietor It is due to these factors that Marco Pierre White and this team of chefs at The Restaurant choose to use natural gas as their preferred cooking source. As a result of its cost effectiveness, its environmental benefits and its reliability, natural gas is the obvious choice when ensuring your business stands out from your competitor.

If you have any questions regarding getting connected please contact Gas Networks Ireland Businesslink on 1850 411 511

Delivery Installation

Design Concept

Who Are We?

Why not call us today and see what we can do for you?

Bunzl Catering Design Solutions (CDS) specialise in the concept, design, installation and after service of Restaurant and CafĂŠ commercial Kitchens and counters. We procure all types of catering equipment and accessories, both large and small.

CDS is dedicated to the food service sector and as such we have a team of professional technicians, servicemen and consultants on the ground nationwide. We believe this support on the ground is essential for a trouble free and successful partnership.

Call: 048 3751 1999 Website: www.cateringdesignsolutions.com