Issue - meetings

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regeneration and Economic Development which provided an update on the various activities that were trialled at Cobtree Manor Park Café during the Easter holidays in April 2017 to improve the operation and profitability of the café..

The Leisure Manager explained that the trial was carried out over the Easter holidays from 4^th April to 21^st April 2017.

It was noted that a survey was undertaken at the same time which assessed the satisfaction level of the customers of the café since the changes had been made to reduce the time spent waiting for food orders. A total of 42 responses had been received and these had been mainly positive.

The Committee was informed that:-

·  The simplified ‘Schools Out Menu’ had enabled the kitchen staff to deal with orders more quickly and was therefore considered a success. 

·  A price increase of 15% had been introduced from 6^th April and prices were considered comparable with other park cafes.

·  The quality recyclable cutlery and packaging introduced during busy periods had been well received by customers and had enabled the kitchen staff to work more efficiently.

·  The queues experienced in the Café had been mainly due to people wanting to buy ice creams or drinks.  This was resolved by utilising a second point of sale, opened up during busy times, selling just ice creams and drinks which had also proved successful. 

·  There had been problems with users of the car park parking inefficiently and blocking the entrance to the overflow car park.  It was noted that there had been an occasion when the car park was full and visitors had parked out on the main Forstal Road.  A report on a redesign for the car park and costings would come to a future meeting of the Committee.

·  There was an issue of storage for stock and various initiatives were being looked at such as hiring a mobile cold store for the 6 weeks summer holiday period etc.

·  There was a resource issue where there was very little resilience in the team, various initiatives would be looked at, including a duty manager role.

·  There was also a need to clearly define the duties of all staff within the park, including the Park Ranger to ensure any issues that arose were dealt with by the most appropriate person..

·  A dialogue had already taken place with the Catering Development Manager of Mote Park Café to collaborate to have more buying power.

RESOLVED: 

1.  That the contents of the report on Cobtree Manor Park Café as set out in Appendix 1 be noted; and

2.  That the trial arrangements be made permanent during school holidays, bank holidays and busy times.