Admin Assistant or Pub Landlady?

There have been moments this week when I have felt very much like an underpaid Admin Asst.............. I have been chained to our desk, reviewing all our policies and procedures and on Wednesday I sat for almost 10 hrs straight typing, collating, sorting and filing and I still have more to do tomorrow when I go in.

Our advertising for new staff has gone very, very well - we have been overwhelmed with applicants this time. So much so, we closed the list quite early because we had so many callers.

So many young people (17 / 18yrs) desperate for work, and some older people as well. Very, very sad to see and hear such desperation........... however, we have taken some great people on. Nowadays though I take people for their value rather than feeling sorry for them, ohhhhhh I have got harder!!!

We've taken a lovely young man in our kitchen who shows much potential and we are also taking on 2 young boys to be Apprentice's. The Apprentices are particularly exciting as its important to prepare for our future, and I am looking forward to helping these two grow and learn, and of course, what they will bring to our business. We've also got another 4 for the front of house, it means that hopefully we'll be able to have less holiday staff and more well trained permanent staff!

Very, very exciting to be able to be growing our business like this and importantly for the people we are taking on - its a bit like a dog not being just for Christmas, these jobs are (hopefully!) for the whole year - not seasonal!

On Thursday I attended a Customer Service Training course with a bit of knowledge about the Riviera Coast thrown in for good measure. I must say that it took me back to when I worked in Local Government, and staff attended courses because they blooming well had to! Those of us that had paid (a couple) were very attentive, but some of the younger ones were very giggly and frankly annoying, yet it was those that needed it most!!

A mixed crowd, there was a fab young man who after being made redundant 6 times in 6 years was starting his own Paddle Boarding company - his enthusiasm was infectious. Some young people from a big local attraction and also a camp site. There was also a contingent from a hotel that had been on the TV quite a bit, and it was interesting to make comparisons from what I'd seen on the TV to how they actually behaved. One of the ladies impressed me greatly with her loyalty to the old boss, but the lads, although nice confirmed their television impression. We have had the opportunity to appear in a TV series but we declined, and after seeing and then hearing their experiences first hand - I think we made the right choice........... the saying that all publicity is good publicity does not always seem to be true!?! But I do wish the new young General Manager good luck in turning the hotel around - for someone so young she had huge responsibilities - but a great head on young shoulders.

The menu planning for the summer is coming on a treat, and customers can be sure of a few nice surprises this year....... But next week we are off to Cornwall with Head Chef James and Manager Glo to a large trade show and take a look at what's on offer and what the trends are for crockery etc. I think we need to make a bit of investment in new crockery as I don't think we can limp through another year with what we have - especially offering food all day now!

Our new advertising boards have been done and are looking splendid - we are very lucky to have such a talented friend who does them for us. Even a new (last year very controversial) Man Creche sign!! They have made the front of the pub very eye catching and colourful and I think they look fab!  

Afternoon all!

Afternoon all - blimey the first day after the clocks going back, and already at just gone 4 there is a familiar gloomy darkness settling over the estuary. I have to say that the Autumn early Winter is a time of year I quite like, except that next weekend I'll be yet another year older.. :( 

I hope you like the photo on the side of the Victoria Inn in all her summer glory. This photo was taken by a delightful woman called Sam Appa who is a professional photographer and here is a link to her website:  http://www.appature.com/

I get lots of people taking pics of the Vic and most of the time we never get to see the finished article but true to her word Sam sent me a CD with some images on and I chose this one because I like the angle, it shows off the window boxes and frontage of the pub really well and I just think it's a great photo - so thanks Sam.

I'm aware that I'm not blogging as much as I used to and I think that's 2 fold - firstly we've been pretty consistently busy for almost the last 5 months (hallelujah) and secondly, its becoming just harder and harder to write about new things. I don't want this blog to become just a repetition of previous blog posts and despite having a couple of people ask me to talk more about Salcombe - that could also be difficult as I don't want this blog to be associated with 'gossip' - because God knows there's enough of that in this town!

So then - we've been really busy again since the end of the summer hols...... talking to James our Chef he was saying that before we took over here you could pretty much say that at the end of the 'season' and after the last half term trade virtually died until Christmas - well, we're pleased to say that doesn't happen any more and that if you want to be sure of a table with us if you want to dine at any time of the year now really, then you must book. This last half term we had quite a few disappointed would be diners and I hate turning trade away when I have a great restaurant upstairs that could seat customers - but sadly, I don't have the staff to facilitate that choice.  Said it before and I'll say it again - getting good quality staff for the Victoria Inn is not always easy, and we are remarkably choosy as well!

Talking of staff, Tim & I are very very proud of 2 of our team who undertook 4 days training at St Austell Brewery in Cornwall - Jessie Day & David Gravitt. They can now hold their own personal licenses and learnt loads about various functions of running a pub and will get a certificate to prove it! Training staff is such an important part of running a successful business such as ours and you have to be prepared to put in the time, money and energy into your staff to get the best out of them. They also came back bubbling with enthusiasm about their new found learning.

But on that note we have 2 delightful e mails this week from very happy customers and here is a little text from them:

Having just returned from a short break in Salcombe, we would like to respond to a wonderful evening we spent in your restaurant, Tuesday 18 October.  You were very busy but made us welcome and provided us with a table.  We were not disappointed.  Everything was excellent-the food, the staff were very attentive and worked hard to ensure our needs were met .  We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and it was one of the highlights of our stay in Salcombe.

We have just spent a couple of days in South Devon revisiting places from holidays of a few years ago, enjoying the scenery and sunshine. The Victoria was recommended to us by a friend so we called in Thursday (20th) lunchtime to have a drink and book a table for that evening. When travelling around it is usual for us to try different places to eat and we had intended to go elsewhere on Friday. However we felt that it would be difficult to better the time we spent at the Victoria hence our easy decision to return and we managed to get a table at a moments notice. The reason for this mail is to compliment you on your pub and to ask that you convey our thanks to all your staff for being both professional and very welcoming.The whole experience was a total pleasure due to the staff and enhanced by excellent food and drink.  Next time we are in the area you will see us again and we will recommend the Victoria to anyone we know visiting the South Hams

I always print off any e mails such as these so that all the staff know the good reports that they, their service and the food receive - it more than makes up for some of the smaller niggles we sometimes get!

Now then, what else??? Well the Hobbitt House is shut for a few days to allow a bit of repair work on them - some new flooring in the en-suites, re-doing the sealants round the showers and then a good Autumn clean. They have had such good use since we opened it's no wonder we have got give them a bit of an overhaul really.

The garden is now shut as well - SOH has re-seeded the grass (vaguely resembles a war zone at the moment with mud, mud and more mud as far as the eye can see) so that it has the Autumn/Winter to repair itself, and get all beautiful for next year!

We have decided our opening and closing times for Christmas & New Year and what we're going to do food wise - this year we are doing our normal menu on Boxing Day lunchtime and NO FOOD in the evening. Last year we only sold a portion of chips! Then New Years Day we will be serving our legendary Curry Buffet! The Old Gaffers will be here Christmas Eve doing Christmas carol stuff and then we're going to have a party with them on NY Eve!!! And we have loads of NY bookings already!!!

Christmas - can you bear to hear that word yet??? Now then, where's my Christmas pressie list........

Till later friends...................