OPTIMUS OBSERVERwww.bdlintranet.co.uk YOUR

3rd

The Optimus Division with its

recently expanded team got

together for a day and half to

meet, chat, share & inspire. We

were hosted by Sara at the

newly transformed County

Hotel, soon to be Best Western

Plus Epping Forest. The team

did her very proud as we were

very well looked after the whole

time.

Thanks to everyone at County

Hotel who looked after us so

well! Also thanks to Rob

Ledson, Mark Dempsie, Ross

Bradley, Maxine Sutton and

Dawn and Ashleigh from

Marketing for coming along to

support the Division with great

insight into current projects and

future strategies.

OPTIMUS OBSERVERYOUR FAVOURITE REDEFINE|BDL NEWSPAPER

EDITION - July 2014

Thanks also to Team Challenge

who did some fantastic team

building activities, which were

lots of fun and really helped our

newly expanded Division to get

to know each other better. We

all enjoyed each challenge set

for our teams and the Boys team

came out well deserved victors

in the end – I think that’s the

exact words the Girls team

‘Well – Gel’ used. ☺

Congratulations to Heathrow,

Camden and Telford who all

smashed their revenue budgets

for June and big congratulations

to Katie and the Tea

Manchester for an all green

Balanced Scorecard

July looks like it might be a

little tougher for some hotels, so

make sure you seek the support

of the sales and revenue teams

to maximise all revenue

opportunities.

OPTIMUS OBSERVER

Since 2014

2014

Congratulations to Heathrow,

Camden and Telford who all

smashed their revenue budgets

for June and big congratulations

to Katie and the Team at

Manchester for an all green

Balanced Scorecard YTD.

looks like it might be a

little tougher for some hotels, so

make sure you seek the support

of the sales and revenue teams

to maximise all revenue

opportunities.

The staff tried their luck on the

black jack table, hoping to win

enough money so they could retire

early! James Kirkpatrick, Leisure

Club Manager won the most

money on the tables and received a

bottle of Champagne:

The team enjoyed a cooling treat

where ‘Mr Whippy’ supplied the

ice creams:

The staff tried their luck on the

black jack table, hoping to win

enough money so they could retire

early! James Kirkpatrick, Leisure

Club Manager won the most

money on the tables and received a

The team enjoyed a cooling treat

Whippy’ supplied the

Celebrate Service Week was

enjoyed by all of the team with lots

of fun, food & frolics.

Now it’s back to reality as we

continue with the Health and Well

Being concept!

Richard Cox, Food Service

Manager swapped places & became

a chef for the day creating a superb

Scandinavian themed buffet for

staff lunch which went down very

well. All of the other lunches in the

week were themed too with Polish,

Mexican, Chinese & Italian meals

for the staff to enjoy:

There were quiz questions every

day with a ‘Where’s Rocky’ picture

so that everyone could participate:

We also held a coffee

morning in aid of McMillan

and raised £110.00.

Cram, MBE kindly assisted

although was disappointed

that all the

the time he came back to

purchase some!

Perhaps the biggest news

of all:

A huge thanks to

Andrews, Head Chef

who has recently

celebrated 35 years’

service!

We also held a coffee

morning in aid of McMillan

and raised £110.00. Steve

Cram, MBE kindly assisted

although was disappointed

that all the cakes had gone by

the time he came back to

purchase some!

Perhaps the biggest news

of all:

A huge thanks to Kevin

Andrews, Head Chef

who has recently

celebrated 35 years’

service!

Football Tournament

for Celebrate Service

The hotel held a five aside

tournament for celebrate service

and to raise money for Macmillan

at the same time.

Teams made from local companies,

pubs and staff made for a great

afternoon followed by a BBQ in

our Dugout Bar and a few dinks for

the opening of the World Cup.

£233 was raised on the day for

Macmillan.

Check out the video right HERE

The Red Lion were the winners:

The hotel held a five aside

for celebrate service

to raise money for Macmillan

Teams made from local companies,

and staff made for a great

afternoon followed by a BBQ in

and a few dinks for

for

Sales & Revenue Conference

A couple of years after the last

one, the Hotel was proud to hold

the Redefine|BDL Sales &

Revenue Conference again.

A lot of hardwork put in by the

staff before, during and after the

event ensured a great time had by

all.

It was a great opportunity to

show off what we can do !!!

Golf Opportunity

Establishing "links" with the

local community and for those

who like to walk a "fairway".

We are now working in

conjunction with the local

Wrekin

beneath the

Wrekin and adjacent to the

ancient Ercall Woods above

Wellington

can be had

residents alike we have an

online package for our guests.

So if you fancy something new

over the summer months

"Drive" up to the

Course.

Wrekin Golf C

Golfing Break

Opportunity

Establishing "links" with the

local community and for those

who like to walk a "fairway".

We are now working in

conjunction with the local

Wrekin Golf Club, situated

beneath the shadow of the

Wrekin and adjacent to the

ancient Ercall Woods above

Wellington. Here; discounts

can be had for staff and

residents alike we have an

online package for our guests.

So if you fancy something new

over the summer months

"Drive" up to the Wrekin Golf

Course.

Wrekin Golf Club

Golfing Break

Team Erskine had a busy week

for celebrate service with

various activities going on

throughout the week and lots of

sweet treats and special lunches

to say Thank You for all the

hard work and ongoing

commitment from each and

every member of staff.

We held a guess the baby

contest in which staff were

asked to bring in baby pictures

for others to guess which picture

belonged to which staff member.

This created a lot of laughter

and excitement with various

wrong guesses which could

sometimes have offended but

luckily it was all in good spirits.

There was also a Who Dunnit

competition, where staff were

asked to send in silly and

embarrassing statements about

themselves, which were put

together on a poster for all to

guess which statement belonged

to which staff member! The

silliness ranged from driving

with no lights on to save petrol,

to invading the stage at a Leeann

Rimes concert!!

There was team selfie day,

whereby each team was asked to

take a team spirited picture with

their team members to remind us

all of the importance of being

of a team.

And last but not least we ended

the week on a Fab Friday theme.

All staff were invited to dress

down, be provided with a special

lunch from our fantastic chefs and

then fed donuts courtesy of our

GM.

There was team selfie day,

whereby each team was asked to

take a team spirited picture with

their team members to remind us

all of the importance of being part

of a team.

And last but not least we ended

the week on a Fab Friday theme.

All staff were invited to dress

down, be provided with a special

lunch from our fantastic chefs and

then fed donuts courtesy of our

With the ‘County Hotel

Transformation’ well under way

(only 25 rooms to go and lots

and lots of snagging), we hosted

the, newly formed, Optimus

Division GM Meeting on 8th

&

9th

July.

The day started with an ‘indoor

picnic’ and a visit from a real

live ‘County Bear’.

Team Challenge provided lots of

fun activities to do, with the

boys team just pipping the girls

(and the true winners) to first

place.

Once the boys had had enough

of bragging and with the

addition of Mr Ledson, we all

enjoyed a fantastic meal at

Sheesh, and mingled with the

TOWIE stars (even though Rob

had no clue who he was asking

for a photo!)

Division Integration

complete………!

Holiday Inn Manchester West

enjoyed a fabulous Celebrate

Service Week!!! It all started

with our Seflie Competition

where the team were

encouraged to send in their

selfies to win a digital

camera. A dressing up box

was put in the staff room for

anyone requiring inspiration!

The photos were displayed at

the team lunch on Friday and

everyone agreed it was a tie

between Amy in F&B, and

Chloe in Reservations –

nothing else to do but put

their names in a hat – Chloe

reigned supreme ( and also

had a nice camera to use as a

Father’s Day gift on the

Sunday!!)

The week also consisted of a

staff lunch on Friday with all

team attending winning a

raffle prize; from Strawberry

plants to wine racks! The

Kitchen team hosted an Ice

Cream

–

weirdest flavour they could

conjure up! Well Done to

Nadia our Business

Development Manager who

won the taste test, and took

home the highly coveted Ice

Cream Goodie Bag.

The week also consisted of a

staff lunch on Friday with all

team attending winning a

raffle prize; from Strawberry

plants to wine racks! The

Kitchen team hosted an Ice

Cream Taste test competition

with wasabi being the

weirdest flavour they could

conjure up! Well Done to

Nadia our Business

Development Manager who

won the taste test, and took

home the highly coveted Ice

Cream Goodie Bag.

We had a record breaking June

2014

The hotel broke budget by £45k

and a growth of £75k on last

year.

Our World Cup promotion went

well and we made an extra

£1,200 and our Cocktail offers

made an additional £1k.

We have had 2 graduates from

NVQ courses:

• Andzelika Rosiak –

Team Leader

• Charlotte Mattingly –

Reception

Recruitment

• Commis Chef

• F&B Host

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Ivor Colaco

who has been appointed

Assistant Food & Beverage

Manager.

Ivor has been working as a

Supervisor for HI Heathrow for

almost 2 years and have made a

significant difference to the

operations, the team and overall

success of the department. We

are thrilled to witness Ivor

taking his next career step in the

company.

As previously announced, Roger

Rodrigues and Samir Ballak has

both been promoted to Food &

Beverage Shift Leaders effective

as if 1st July. Both Roger and

Samir have proven to be reliant,

hardworking and acting role

models for our values – Integrity,

Care, Ambition & Excellence.

As also previously announced,

Anna Grover was appointed

Breakfast Supervisor in July.

Anna has been working at HI

Heathrow for 4.5 years and has

shown great ambition and

excellence in her role. We are

very proud to see Anna progress

to the next level

Magic Moments

Amanda Sami Awarded "Star

of the Weekend" for offering to

stay 2 hours longer to help the

late shift taking a delayed flight

Noelia Goncalves guest email

thanking Noelia for her assistant

finding her ring

Malik Ali guest email

mentioning Maliks exceptional

service

Sulina V. Gouveia Letter for

client (Coca Cola) - very

pleased with Sulinas service

Jay Ozgun Guest Email

mentioning Jays exceptional

service

Employee of the Month

Samir Ballak, Food & Beverage

CELEBRATE SERVICE WEEK

5k Team Member Charity

Run

We raised over £600 for the

great cause that is Macmillan.

Numer

for Celebrate Service

A BBQ by the river

A SPA day

Treasure Hunt

Ice Cream

Numerous activities were held

for Celebrate Service:

A BBQ by the river

A SPA day

Treasure Hunt

Ice Cream & Fun Day

In Other News!

Savan, our Duty Manager, had a

baby body on the 5

We welcomed our new Front

Office Manager to the team: Meral

Kaya

Team Engagement Focus Groups:

Team discussions on what we we

should start, stop and continue to

drive employee engagement.

In Other News!

Savan, our Duty Manager, had a

baby body on the 5th

May

We welcomed our new Front

Office Manager to the team: Meral

Team Engagement Focus Groups:

Team discussions on what we we

should start, stop and continue to

drive employee engagement.

The Moorfield Hotel

celebrates one year on

from practical

completion.

The picture shows

some of the staff who

started work at the

brand new hotel

Congratulations to our

Head Chef Toby

Smedley and his wife

Alison, who gave birth

to a lovely baby boy on

7th June. A lovely big

brother for Jack.