March 2008 Archives

We don’t mean to scaremonger but strange things appear to be afoot at hotel group De Vere.

If you remember a few weeks back on Kitchen Rat we put a call out for Niels Sherry to get in touch after the former De Vere Deluxe chief operating officer, who only joined in September 2007 from Morgans Hotels, left the hotel chain abruptly in January.

Now in another twist in the De Vere disappearing management saga that would have FBI agents Mulder and Scully scratching their heads Jeremy Rata, who joined the company less than a year ago to oversee a £5m refurbishment of the landmark five-star Grand hotel in Brighton, has disappeared, also.

If you thought that Michael Jackson only hid from the world at the Sheikh’s palace in Dubai - think again.

Kitchen Rat can in fact reveal that last summer he was holed up in the Prince Charles suite in Von Essen’s Cliveden Hall, Berkshire.

The stately home turned hotel, owned by the Von Essen Group, may at first seem somewhat of a bizarre place for the King of Pop to carry out his self-imposed exile.

But it has pedigree like the pop-star himself.

Cliveden played a part in the Profumo Affair, with the then Secretary of State for War, John Profumo. He used the cottage on the estate in order to sleep with someone he shouldn’t- his mistress Christine Keeler-who was affiliated to a Russian Spy, a bad idea during the Cold War- and then proceeded to deny it in court. Very much the tabloid Thriller of its day.

Back to Michael Jackson then, and instead of a chocolate on the pillow during his stay he had a Cliveden Teddy to keep him company and paintings of some rather creepy cats on the walls. A room fit for a King (of Pop).

Given his recent very public struggles to pay off his Neverland Ranch debts, Kitchen Rat can state for the record that he paid his hotel bill on time and in full, proving that he’s not so Bad at all.

VON ESSEN BUY SEAHAM HALL
VON ESSEN CONSIDER LEGAL ACTION

In the same week that the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) lost its battle with the Government to freeze alcohol duties it emerged that its chief executive Rob Hayward spent Friday afternoon at Cheltenham watching Denman win the Gold Cup.

Nice to see Rob getting in some pints before the prices go up on Sunday. We hope he had some money on Denman because he might need his winnings to cover the cost of a round on Monday. Enjoy it while it lasts Rob!

Mystery surrounds the future of Niels Sherry, who, Kitchen Rat can reveal, left his role as chief operating officer at hotel chain De Vere Deluxe abruptly in January after just four months in the role.

Sherry joined the Alternative Hotel Group's (AHG) owned De Vere in September from Morgans Hotel Group in New York to head up an executive team in charge of nine hotels including Cameron House in Loch Lomond, the Grand in Brighton and the Roda, scheduled to open in Spain in 2009.

At the time, Sherry seemed set for the long-haul, speaking of his vision to "build this from the grass roots up by celebrating each hotel's individual and regional strengths".

But we now learn that he left the company in January, with sources alleging a difference of opinion with AHG management. De Vere confirmed Sherry's departure, but refused to elaborate any further.

The news comes in the week we revealed that AHG is closing De Vere's head office with the loss of a number of jobs.

Are you being served? by Graysons Restaurants the contract caterer backed by ex Compass chairman Sir Francis Mackay.

Well staff at chemical and forensic analysis firm LGC in South London now are in what is Graysons first contract-catering deal.

As mentioned Sir Francis is backing the new contract caterer but the Compass Group link doesn’t stop there.

There are plum City contracts for contract caterers and then there are the likes of investment bank Goldman Sachs, run by Compass Group.

Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s oldest investment banks and was founded in 1869 long before the expression credit crunch came into vogue.

However Kitchen Rat hears the re-tendering exercise currently being conducted at the firm isn’t going as smoothly as perhaps envisioned.

Having won Ready Steady Cook! last year contract caterer Vacherin has got one up on it’s rivals again with victory in the annual Ace pub quiz.

The Caterer Adopted Business took top honours at Imperial College last night beating double winner Bartlett Mitchell to the title.

However, considering Ace is the Association of Catering Excellence and its membership consists heavily of contract caterers, it was worrying to hear that one of the rounds that tripped contestants up was the one on food.

With the Formula 1 season upon us and questions as to whether Lewis Hamilton can win it, BaxterStorey has beaten the pack to win Honda.

The contract caterer is providing services to the Honda racing team, which with Jenson Button had a season to forget in 2007, at its base of operations near the Silverstone race circuit in Brackley, Northamptonshire.

The BaxterStorey boys are feeding up to 700 staff and already cater for Honda rival the Red Bull Racing team.

As both BaxterStorey chief executive Alastair Storey and deputy chief executive William Baxter are self-confessed petrol heads it’s no doubt a bit of additional business and pleasure.

Nice to see after last year's takeover of Holroyd Howe that BaxterStorey hasn't taken its foot of the gas.

Official Formual 1 website>>

Joy to the World: Honda F1 ditches globe livery>>

BaxterStorey swoops for caterer Holroyd Howe>>

William Baxter and Alastair Storey on the making of a marvellous merger>>

What a difference a year makes, especially for Butlins owner Bourne Leisure.

Back in February 2007 the holiday camp operator faced a compensation bill of up to £1m after a court ruling that wage deductions for gas and electricity used by live-in staff at the holiday sites was illegal.

The case affected 6,000 workers – typically employed for the holiday season – that had had £3 deducted from their weekly wages to pay for their energy use, taking their pay below the National Minimum Wage in some cases.

But that’s all history now as Bourne has made it into this year’s Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For list as part of its placing of the 20 best large companies to work at.

So from Bourne Ultimatium to Bourne Supremacy.

National minimum wage to rise to £5.73>>

Butlins faces £1m payout to its staff>>

So, plans to get contract caterers to sign up to a code of conduct to stop school-yard shenanigans between them at handover time have taken another step closer to realisation.

A meeting of the great and good in the sector has been arranged for next month in London’s Canary Wharf business district to hammer out the details.

Apparently it's not unheard of for out going caterers to delete records of bookings, sabotage equipment and bad mouth the incoming party.

But wait.

Although news that the ex-HR director at Gate Gourmet during the horror show that was the Heathrow staff dispute of 2005 is dishing out advice to Acas – itself a conciliation service – is certainly delicious, Kitchen Rat can go one better in regards to the code of conduct.

Sodexo has finally given the beleaguered populace of Newcastle something to smile about, helping take Geordies’ minds off Kevin Keegan and the hostile takeover of local brewer Scottish & Newcastle.

The caterer and facilities management company has started a £250,000 initial one-year deal to feed Newcastle Building Society staff at Cobalt Business Park.

The deal also includes cleaning and gym services (!). Sodexo will initially be feeding 150 building society staff but the number is set to rise to 500 later this year as more are moved into the recently built site.

However, there could be considerably more mouths than even this to feed as Personnel Today reports that disenfranchised workers at the now nationalised Northern Rock are looking to work at rival Newcastle Building Society.

So smiles all round then, just don’t mention the Magpies or the fact that Madonna has bought a Scottish & Newcastle pub (she hasn’t).

Sodexho Alliance renamed Sodexo>>

Sodexho: It’s time to drop the H bomb>>

Scottish & Newcastle takeover deadline extended>>

Alanis Morisette would have a field day. Irony number one: Staff at conciliation service Acas (which steps in when employer disputes get too heavy) have voted to go on strike. Rather amusing you’d agree.

But wait. Andy Cook, who was HR director at airline caterer Gate Gourmet during its messy dispute with unions in 2005, has decided he is best placed to offer advice on the issue.

“It’s difficult to have faith in an organisation that can’t practice what it preaches,” he said, in his new role as director of an industrial relations consultancy.

“Acas needs to move swiftly to resolve this issue to avoid further embarrassment for itself and the Government.”

Probably sound advice, but should we be listening to the man who presided over employee relations at a firm which sacked 800 people at a stroke for being “troublemakers” causing a summer of discontent at Heathrow? Who then jumped ship after just seven months to set up his own consultancy?

As Big Brother would say: You decide.

Although the brasserie chain is being coy about launching in Liverpool having pulled out of the Liverpool One, opening in England’s old capital is very much go.

Such is the enthusiasm to find out more that several locals have got in touch with Caterer to demand more information confusing our news coverage for direct involvement with the group.

Still it’s hard not to get swept away by their enthusiasm. One lady writes:

“Hi, can you tell me when your Winchester restaurant will be open please? I work for Hampshire Country Council and as my manager is leaving us at the beginning of April, we are looking for somewhere different to go for a meal to give her a good send off. I was presently surprised and very pleased to see Brasserie Blanc in Jewry Street. The outside of the restaurant looks lovely.”

Another says: “I have been walking by the new Brasserie Blanc in Winchester and it is beautiful. I have been looking for a phone number to make reservations for my birthday on 12 March. I cannot find a phone number, only an opening date of 13 March but can you confirm? Brasserie Blanc is a lovely and most welcome and needed restaurant in sleepy Winchester.”

We contacted a slightly perplexed Brasserie Blanc managing director John Lederer who supplied the opening date and details and commented it “was so much more exciting at the sharp end”.

Believe us John, you don’t know the half of it.

Anyway, as part of Caterer’s newly adopted public service remit it opens 14 March and the number for bookings is 01962 810870.

Raymond's Brasserie Blanc to open in Wincester>>

Brasserie Blanc in Birmingham to close>>

So it’s official – Gordon Ramsay Holdings has closed its Michelin-starred restaurant La Noisette just 18 months after its opening.

The decision to close La Noisette won’t come as a surprise to the industry as rumours about its closure have been circulating for months. The restaurant hadn’t been performing well, particularly at lunchtime, despite chef patron Bjorn van der Horst doing a sterling job in the kitchen.

But it seems like there’s no one to blame for the failure of the Knightsbridge-based restaurant but rather that La Noisette was the victim of a jinxed space. After all it’s not the first restaurant that shut shop there: Ramsay’s joint venture with Ian Pengelley closed less than a year after opening in 2005, while private members’ club Monte’s struggled to establish itself as a long-term dining brand despite the involvement of Alain Ducasse in the 1990s and Jamie Oliver in 2001.

A spokeswoman for Gordon Ramsay Holdings said the company would now use La Noisette as a space for private dining and events, accommodating some of the lost space in the now closed Savoy.

Meanwhile Bjorn is leaving Gordon Ramsay Holdings to set up his own restaurant. Kitchenrat wishes him all the best of luck.