M&B skills academy: putting pub food first

With food volumes up 85% in the past six years and keen pricing more important than ever, how has Mitchells & Butlers ensured the quality of its food offer? Gemma McKenna reports from its £1m kitchen skills academy in Watford.

Managed operator Mitchells & Butlers is aiming high — it wants to be the UK's leading casual-dining operator, as well as the hospitality employer of choice. With a recent multi-million-pound investment in food development and kitchen staff training, it could be well on track. 

At the heart of this investment is the £1m kitchen skills academy located in Watford, where, since its opening one year ago, 50 staff members per week have arrived through its doors, keen to learn new skills and hone their talents. 

When new boss Adam Fowle took over in August last year (after acting as chief executive since the end of May), he was quick to carve the company's pubs up into three price-related divisions — value, suburban, and city & country. 

The focus on food is evident as Fowle has made improving the food quality score a "top to bottom objective", which is used as a measure by kitchen managers and the board of directors alike. 

Food is the group's main sales driver — 70% of sales are driven by food. Referring to how food has begun to dominate pub sales, human resources director Chris Edger says: "A revolution has occurred within the pub industry, and we are at the forefront of it." 

He says the firm is now aiming to be the leading casual-dining operator in the UK.

Some individual M&B businesses can serve as many as 6,000 meals in one week, and the company's carvery brands (Toby Carvery and Crown Carveries) dished up 30 million meals between them last year.

Edger is clear on the strategy for success: "If we want to win, certainly in the mid-market, we have to concentrate on both quality and volume."

Pricing is crucial​

Of course, in order to concentrate on both quality and volume, pricing will also become an issue. As a result the company's pricing structure has changed significantly as value has really come to the fore, Edger claims.

"We see our main competition coming from the fast-food sector and the eat-at-home dining experience, such as Marks & Spencer's 'Dine in for two for £10'. You have to provide a compelling alternative in terms of amenity, service, pricing and quality in order to attract customers." 

There's also been "formidable opposition" from brands such as Nando's and Pizza Express, as well as the likes of McDonald's.

"We draw a lot from McDonald's — I hold it up as an industry exemplar," says Edger.

He believes its e-training tools, commitment to vocational training and focus on reducing staff turnover are to be much admired.

"We've got to get away from the perception that hospitality is a low-paid, low-valued sector. It's one of the largest employment sectors in the UK.

"Within that we want to be the hospitality employer of choice."

Investing in staff​

Following this principle, the company says that investing in people is core to its development. According to Edger, a recent management survey showed that more than 90% of staff are happy in their job, and kitchen manager retention has grown 15% in the past year. 

M&B focuses heavily on developing and promoting staff from within the organisation. More than 70% of its current kitchen managers were developed internally. Edger believes this is due to the training and development programme, a refined incentive scheme, and a rewarding career path. 

Head of food quality John Noakes started out working in the kitchen at the Harvester at Great Saltons, Portsmouth, having missed out on "classical catering training" (he has a degree in civil engineering).

Within weeks of opening, this pub was serving more than 500 meals per week, and Noakes has now worked his way up to the top of the food chain and is now in charge of food quality.

Similarly Chris Watts, kitchen training and development manager for high-street brands All Bar One and Browns, started out as a team member in the kitchens at Vintage Inns. He says: "What do Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and me have in common? We've all done National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)."

Noakes points out that while employment for 16 to 25-year-olds is at crisis point in this recession, M&B is increasing the number of apprenticeships it has on offer. "We're not scaling back. We're scaling up."

Training comprises four skills elements: NVQs, communication, numerical and verbal skills modules. Young people who join the ranks at the most junior level can progress quickly, becoming a kitchen manager by their early 20s, according to Edger. 

The pub operator has also joined forces with VT Training and the Vocational College to "offer work-based learning programmes that lead towards nationally recognised qualifications".

Training for all​

Given the diversity of brands in the group's portfolios, training is bespoke to each one with extra focus on chargrilling or slow roasting where appropriate. But food safety applies across all the brands, with all food handlers studying a level 2 essential food hygiene qualification.

All senior and middle management from each brand have now been through the training programme at Watford. As Edger says: "It's no good having an area manager just calling into a carvery venue on a Sunday to check if everything's alright — if there is a man down they've got to be able to get stuck in. That way they'll earn the respect of their staff." 

Aside from the Watford academy, M&B has two "food innovation centres", which work on developing menus. These are located at Walsall in the West Midlands, and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. 

Typical training courses last two days and focus on how to set up the equipment correctly, how to get best use out of equipment, and how to use historical sales data and project figures in order to plan preparation. 

Then trainees are taken through the whole process from prepping up and delivering food to closedown. "Part of the project is getting staff to know and love ingredients," says Edger. "Staff at more up-market brands are taken to visit suppliers and check out fresh ingredients at Old Billingsgate Market, among others." 

Edger emphasises the effort M&B puts into food, across its entire range of brands, saying, "Even Gordon Ramsay drives around the City with pre-cooked foods. We don't."

Spotlight on food at M&B​

•The firm bills itself as the UK's largest on-trade caterer. It served 129 million main meals last year

•At peak times, its top carveries cater for 120 covers per hour

•Its food volumes have grown 85% in the past six years

•The cost of a new kitchen in one of its pubs ranges from £50,000 to £250,000

•M&B bought 740,000 fresh turkeys last year — accounting for 10% of the UK's non-seasonal turkey market

•Of the firm's 2,000 sites, three quarters require a chargrill

•Watford's specially-designed kitchen skills academy cost approximately £1m — including specialist equipment provided by suppliers

Kitchen Training​

•1,000+ staff on NVQs and apprenticeships

•830 staff on kitchen team leadership programme

(this leads to the first supervisory role — it's linked to Level 2 NVQ)

•1,200 kitchen skills modules have been delivered to staff

•108 staff on accredited kitchen management programmes

•All staff undergo a 13-week kitchen management induction programme.

Main facts and figures​

•M&B employs 42,000 people, has 2,000 sites, and 20 main brands. These include the 200-strong Vintage Inns, 14-strong Browns, and 172 Harvesters 

•Last year M&B contributed £426m to the Exchequer (20% of its turnover)

•Mitchells & Butlers owns only 3% of pubs in the UK, but handles 10% of industry sales.

Doing things the American way​

The business learns a lot from what happens in the US, Edger says, for example, in the area of achieving table turns and making sure the space is best used while meeting g