Hospitality consultancy · London, UK-wide
Independent bars, restaurants and pubs,run properly.
I’m Sean. I’ve spent most of my working life in bars, restaurants, hotels, pubs and late-night venues, and for years I’ve helped owners I know sort their places out, informally. The Section is that work done properly: I look at how the place actually runs and put the structure in, so it runs well when you’re not there.
Level B1 · The cellar · Maintenance
It starts in the cellar.
Ice machine, glasswasher, gas, fire alarm, pest control. Most of it gets ignored until something fails on a Saturday night. I set up a maintenance calendar, sort out which contractors you use and on what terms, and get the compliance paperwork into one folder, where an inspector would expect to find it.
- Maintenance schedule for every piece of kit
- Contractor list, terms and call-out cover
- Compliance calendar: gas, electrics, fire, pest, water
glasswasher: filter + spare pump. order Monday
Level G · The floor · Operations
The floor should run the same whoever is on.
That means writing down how things are done here: opens, closes, line checks, stock counts, how a table gets greeted, what happens when it goes wrong. I write it with your team during real shifts, so it is what they actually do rather than a folder nobody opens.
- Opening and closing procedures, front and back of house
- Line checks, stock counts and cost control
- Service standards written with the team
Level 1 · The kitchen and pass · Product
A menu that makes money.
I cost every dish and every drink, write the spec book so things come out the same every time, and go through the suppliers so you are not paying more than the place down the road for the same case of wine.
- Menu and drinks development
- Spec book, costed
- Supplier review and gross-profit targets
4 dishes still not on spec
Level 2 · The office · People
Staff who stay.
Hiring, training, reviews, progression. Most of it is deciding how things are done here and writing it down, so a new starter can learn the job in a week and a manager can run the shift without ringing you.
- Structure, roles and hiring
- Induction and a training plan
- Reviews, standards and progression
rota out Wednesday, two weeks ahead
Roof · The sign · Brand
Then the sign.
Positioning, identity, the concept itself. Sometimes that is a new venue from scratch, sometimes a good room that has drifted and needs a clearer point of view. It is at the top of the drawing because everything underneath has to be able to hold it up.
- Positioning and identity
- Concept development, new or reinvented
- Guest experience, from the door to last orders
two bulbs out on the sign