As I walk into the hotel past the friendly receptionist who never fails to say hello I already know what the day has in store for me. With a large wedding, 2 function rooms in use plus dinner for around 90 people I know it will be a challenge, that’s not mentioning the 2 really tight turn arounds we have in the Gainsborough.
I walk in to the restaurant and am delighted to see that my team have already got stuck in and started the transformation of clearing the room after breakfast and getting the room looking glorious for the wedding party which are due to arrive in and hour and a half. I take a small moment to appreciate the dazzling view of the sun over the bay and can’t help but feel a bit privileged to see it every day. The team are in high spirits after just having won department of the quarter and everyone is feeling positive about the day ahead……and then it begins!!!
The phantom head ache which appears from no where, the request for holiday at a time when 5 other members of staff are already off, the joyous news that my team leader was and hour and a half late for work and one team member did not bother to show up at all. Then there was a booking for 15 which taken in a full restaurant at the same time the function was due to start and the crack in the restaurant door which appeared over night.
After fielding the constant calls of ‘please miss can i….’ I get to the task in hand, chair covers and sashes, favours, table confetti, flowers and the magnificent wedding cake which should be protected from damage by an invisible force field as the staff stand and gawp open mouthed at the confectionary sculpture. The room looks amazing and with 5 minutes to spare we have a team briefing to explain in detail the function ahead and every individuals duties for the rest off the day.
As the congregation file through the room is filled with congratulations and drink induced humour and there is an air of anticipation as 120 starving guests take their seats for dinner, after a round of applause for the beautiful bride and the handsome groom the show is on and we are away.
Service runs without a hitch and with murmurings of approval from staff and guests the bride and groom have been given a day to remember. As the party trickles out to the bar it’s another race against the clock to change all the tables and chairs around for dinner. The evening commences and the first of the residents arrive for their dining experience. The kitchen team are in high spirits with our resident cabaret chef singing hey there Delilah and they get down to the task in hand.
Once again another successful day draws to a close and as my team leave the hotel dragging their feet from exhaustion but still smiling, I know they are dreading the thought of being back in a 6.30 the following day but I can’t help thinking they’re not a bad bunch really.
The Green Grand
One of my responsibilities at the hotel is the hotel’s green team so I’ve put togther some interesting facts about our green policy for you….
Organisations of all kinds are, increasingly, determined to achieve and demonstrate sound environmental performance by controlling the impact on the environment of their activities, products and services. They do so in the context of growing environmental awareness, increasingly stringent legislation and of course because we should all love and care for our planet. We at the Grand Hotel are concerned about the environment and recognise that good management must be an integral and fundamental part of our corporate business strategy. We aim to do this by conserving energy, water, wood, paper and all other resources. By reducing waste through re-use and recycling. By monitoring relevant discharges and emissions to air, land and water, and by phasing out ozone depleting substances and minimising the release of greenhouse gases. But most importantly by communicating openly with staff; educating, training and motivating our colleagues to encourage them to support our environmental programmes and jointly develop new ideas and initiatives.
Sounds simple doesn’t it…..I promise……. It’s much easier said than done!!! The main issue that seems to be raised time and time again is the attempt to alter peoples mind set. Many good citizens religiously do their recycling, fill their compost, save electricity wherever possible…… however when they come to stay at a hotel and the overheads are no longer theirs it appears to become another matter.
In each room….. without trying to preach, we have tried to outline the ethos of the hotel with regard to what we are doing for the environment and where possible to educate our guests with snipets of information. Its goes a little something like this……
You should find that your television is turned off…. Not just on standby – It is estimated that leaving electric appliances on stand-by uses about 7% of all electricity in UK homes. That is equivalent to the electricity generated from two gas-fired power stations or from more than 1,500 wind turbines. With over 3.5 million tonnes of the principle greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) being wasted by equipment left on standby each year.
For when your room is serviced, towels that have been used and require washing, please place into your bath – A single washing machine cycle uses up to 100 litres of water (22 gallons) – and the average family uses their washing machine five times a week . That’s 26,000 litres (5,720 gallons) in a year.
We hope your room and surroundings are at a comfortable temperature, if it’s not…… Please let us know! – CO2 emissions would be cut by 2 million tonnes (11 million double-decker buses) if everyone in the UK put a jacket on their hot water tank.
The Grand is in the process of upgrading all light bulbs across the Hotel, but when not needed…… please turn lights off – If every household in the UK installed just 3 Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs, it would save enough energy to supply all street lighting in the UK.
Some things we are doing that you may not be aware of….
Our office and administration staff conserve energy daily by switching off all electrical equipment that is not in use, and by recycling all paper materials that we use – Leaving the photocopier on overnight wastes enough energy to make 5,300 A4 copies! Switching off the PC monitor at night saves energy to microwave six dinners! In the UK today, nearly 5 million tonnes of paper is dumped in landfill or incinerated every year. Recycling just one tonne of paper saves 3,700 pounds of lumber and 24,000 gallons of water!
In all ways possible, our waste is recycled…. Paper, Glass Bottles, Aluminium & tin, Cardboard, even our cooking oil – If all the aluminium cans sold in the UK were recycled, we would reduce the number of full dustbins each year by 12million.
We buy and support Local produce – Buy Local – Not only is a Carbon Footprint being reduced, but… Did you know – each £10 spent on local produce bought from local producers puts £25 into the local economy; the same money, spent in a supermarket only adds £14 to the local economy!
We support local charities such as Project 58, by donating our waste produce to those in need – The amount of food waste generated in the waste stream has increased by 1.2 million tons in the last 25 years.
