GENERAL MANAGER

If you live in Winchester and enjoy your food and drink, chances are you’ve already been to Cabinet Rooms. We’re an award-winning, independent café-bar based opposite the theatre and are best known for our cosy, welcoming atmosphere and our classic cocktails.

With the easing of restrictions now in sight, we’re looking to not just pick up where we left off in December but also refresh and build on our product offering and events programme.

This is a brand new role and we’re looking for just the right person to take the reins from the owners, who’ve personally run the café for the last four years. You’ll be expected to hit the ground running so it’s vital you have strong experience of managing people in a hospitality environment as well as a keen and genuine interest in food, coffee and cocktails. We’re 100% independent, with complete control over what we sell so this is a rare and exciting opportunity for you to be creative and really make your mark. You’ll be working closely with the business owners to develop the offering and will be accountable for protecting our brand, premises and reputation.

Having built the business from scratch, the owners have unapologetically high standards which comes hand in hand with high expectations of the team. You’ll share the owners’ values and will encourage and inspire the staff to get excited about the product, work hard and deliver exceptional customer service at all times.

You’ll work closely with the Managing Director to deliver the company strategy and your performance will be measured on an ongoing basis. You’ll be accountable for the financial performance of the café-bar and will report back regularly on its successes and areas of growth.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Revenue Targets
• Stock Management and Wastage
• GP% and staffing costs
• Service and Quality standards
• Customer Feedback
• Staff Turnover and Performance

This is the kind of exciting role that does not come round very often. We want to offer it to someone who’s dependable and positive, with a great attitude, work ethic and lots of charisma and bright ideas.

MORE ABOUT THE ROLE

Operations

• Maintaining a clean & safe working environment
• Ensuring compliance with Food Hygiene, Fire, HSE
• Stock management and reduction of waste
• Maintaining & building new supplier relationships
• Responsibility for management of booking and till systems
• Ongoing review and development of in-house procedures
• Responsibility for communicating with and managing private hire bookings
• Supporting the directors at off-site events

People Management

• Designing and delivering training for the team
• Work with suppliers to organise familiarisation trips and staff competitions
• Development of the new staff training manual and induction programme
• Recruitment and onboarding of new staff
• Management of the annual review process
• Management of the staff rota and holiday approvals

Financial Management

• Responsibility for the financial performance of the café-bar
• Weekly performance reporting for the Directors
• Responsibility for cash handling and banking
• Sales forecasts and activity planning
• Analysing and interpreting trends to facilitate planning;

Marketing Support

• Support the Managing Director in delivering strategic marketing campaigns
• Provide assistance with the creation of tactical social media content
• Propose and develop a tactical promotional and events calendar to drive sales and brand awareness

Customer Care

• Ensure the customer comes first at all times
• Collate feedback and work to improve the customer experience on an ongoing basis

PAY & BENEFITS

• Approx. 40 hours/week including weekends and evenings
• Contributory pension scheme
• Staff discounts on food and drink
• Concessions on festival tickets for friends and family
• Staff meal for shifts longer than 6 hours
• Training opportunities
• Professional qualifications (after one year’s service)

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for this role, please send us a copy of your CV as well as your answers to the three questions in your covering email.

• How would you describe your approach to leadership?
• What do you think makes the difference between good customer service and outstanding customer service?
• Tell us why you you think you’d be the perfect fit for Cabinet Rooms in particular.

Applications will close at 11.59pm on Tuesday 4 May. Shortlisted candidates will be telephoned for a chat on 5 May. Formal interviews will take place in person at the café on Saturday 8 May and Monday 10 May and trial shifts will take place on 13-15 May. The role will start on Tuesday 18 May.

Please note that before attending a formal interview, we will need you to provide us with the name, job title and email address for a professional reference from your current or most recent employer.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend an interview please let us know.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: £23,000-25,000 p.a.

Application deadline: 02/05/2021

Expected start date: 18/05/2021

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £23,000.00 to £25,000.00 /year

COVID-19 considerations:
Following all Government guidelines for the safe operation of an F&B business