Person of the Week

Alan Holmes and Nick Hewitt

The Head Sommelier and Junior Sous Chef from Chewton Glen Hotel became the 2009 Gastronomy Team of the Year this week, together creating, cooking and serving a two course menu. This inaugural competition was run by the Academy of Food and judge Andrew Jones, Executive Chef at the Westbury Hotel, said "The presentation of the dishes by the Chewton Glen team was very impressive with a successful match between food and wine - every ingredient was picked up in the wines."

Photo credit Adrian Franklin

Quote of the Week

"Here mother nature wins. And it is, as throughout all Alaska, that big wild good life, teeming along the road that is, north. To the future."

Sarah Palin - click on the link to see actor William Shatner make sense of her bizarre resignation speech:

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/shatner-does-palin-072709/1139665/

Facts of the week

What are the priorities of managers during this recession?

A survey finds that there is optimism amongst business leaders

This thoughtful review by Hamish McRae suggests that management currently falls into two broad groups: those that are still in survival mode and those that see this period as a once-in-a-decade opportunity to position themselves for the next expansion.

• He argues that, whilst there is considerable debate about the macroeconomic upsides to the recession, less is said about the impact on companies.
• The article draws attention to a survey conducted by Arthur D. Little, which asked companies of all sizes to define their responses to the recession.
• Amongst other questions, managers were asked about their priorities. Whilst some were obvious enough – rationalising operations and cutting overheads – McRae comments that he was quite surprised to see retaining talent quite high up too.
• When questioned about how long they thought it would be before output reached pre-crisis levels, most companies thought that it would be end-2010 or end-2011. Although this obviously varies from sector to sector, this is comparatively optimistic.
• McRae suggests that one question posed by this survey is whether economists are now underestimating the pace of recovery?

Source: independent.co.uk

Are discounted room rates doing long-term damage to the hotel market?

A mix of opinion from industry leaders on the impact of discounting

This article reports that historically price wars have particularly harmful to business, with the pressures on hotel operators resulting in price discounts that are potentially damaging in the long-term.

• One of the features of the current competitive environment is the influence of the budget hotel chains, who are using discounted pricing to attract new customers.
• Consultant Melvin Gold suggests that the problem is that discounting moves demand around the market - "Does it create any new demand? Probably a little bit, but not enough to make a huge difference."
• However, one of the interesting comments is from Chris Rogers, FD at Whitbread who argues that "We are not seeing irrational behaviour. [The discounting] is rational and it's pretty surgical. It's not across the board slashing prices. As long as it stays rational and surgical, I don’t think it will do any lasting damage."

Source: timesonline.co.uk

Article of the week

In this ongoing series from EP magazine, the article this week is from the EP archives and is a profile piece on Albert Roux entitled "59 years a chef."

Albert is a legendary figure within the restaurant market, but what were his origins and early influences?