Oakman Inns, the Hertfordshire-based group, has introduced a new infrastructure to support their in-house teams by splitting its portfolio into two divisions each being assigned its own area manager and area chef.
The group, which yesterday announced it had raised £5.5m towards it future expansion plans, has also given its individual head chefs total responsibility for some 35% of the menu.
Christine Wondracek, who has a hotel background, is now area manager for those Oakman Inns with rooms and has a dedicated area chef, Carlo Tolu working alongside her.
Rohan Aldcroft and Jamie Collins take those two respective roles over the rest of the estate. The company said that all four individuals have been internally promoted in line with a core objective of promoting from within.
Founder and chief executive Peter Borg-Neal said: “Ultimately it is all about good food and there are only two things you need to deliver that. You have to put great ingredients in the hands of great chefs. We are brilliant at the first of those, as we only use high quality suppliers – but attracting and retaining great chefs is a trickier proposition. We are tremendously lucky with the kitchen teams across all eight of our units.
“However, if we are to retain our highly skilled personnel we have to ensure that they are getting job satisfaction. A big part of that is the need to feel that they are respected; that they are creative; and that they have the power to solve problems. That is a normal expectation for a human being and is particularly important to creative, skilled workers such as chefs.
“Our head chefs have always had a free hand with their ‘Specials’ but now they are able to create a large chunk of the printed menu. This, of course, means that each of our Oakman Inns now has a unique menu that their individual kitchen teams feel passionate about.”
Among several new initiatives is the introduction of ‘Sharing Sunday Roasts’ to reflect the traditional values associated with family and friends eating together on a Sunday. These include a whole Dorchester Rib of Beef and a whole Aylesbury Duck.
