The Embankment Takeover
At the start of December, our pubs received a special delivery in the form of ‘The Christmas Bingo Board of Brilliance’, packed with challenges to our team, to make it the best Christmas yet! The reward? The team who completed the most challenges got the whole night off together and a budget to throw a party. This obviously leaves an empty pub, so while they go out partying, our Central Team descend en masse to run the pub for the entire evening. What could possibly go wrong?
This year, Ben and the team at The Embankment in Bedford were the champions, so on Thursday 26th February at 6pm, they handed us the keys and the takeover began!
Pod Manager Frazer kindly created us a rota and claimed he had put his ‘aces in places’. For a normal Thursday evening, Ben would have seven team members working….We had seventeen.
Our Financial Director, Joe Garthwaite, had managed to escape kitchen duties during his induction so naturally, we made him Kitchen Porter for the night. He seemed to be doing a fine job, however, towards the end of the evening, he discovered that he had forgotten to fill his dishwasher with washing up liquid so washing up round two it was!
Meanwhile Co-Founder, Lee Cash was put in charge of the meat section. Despite being Fish Night, Steaks and Burgers never fail to be a hit so Cashy’s cooking skills were really put to the test. When his first check was sent back, it’s fair to say he was devastated. Seeing a burger return shortly after didn’t ease the pain. Lucky for him, the guests forgave him and walked out happy.
Despite Chef Directors Corin and Trevor sticking to their comfort zone, they faced a few of their own battles. Notably, they spent a good hour searching the kitchen for a mop… How many chefs does it take to clean a floor?
Head of Sales & Marketing, Zoe Knowles and new Operations Director, Chris Stagg held fort behind the bar. While Chris preached the benefits of Charles Wells’ London Stout to all who’d listen, Zoe was quick to discover that it was half-price Prosecco night, which meant there was always a bottle open for ‘sampling’. When he wasn’t preaching, Chris also did a fine job of taking orders. When one particular guest asked for a glass of ‘Jean Paul’, Chris misheard and instead introduced him to General Manager ‘Ben Paul’! The third member of the bar team was our Poddie, David. When he wasn’t dancing and singing along to the pub playlist, he could be found shaking and stirring like a poor-man’s Tom Cruise.
Three people on a bar for a Thursday doesn’t sound so bad, but when your Co-Founder has invited the whole of Bedford Rugby Team in on the promise of 25% discount all night, things can get a little ‘tense’.
For one night only we were also lucky to have our very own in-house Sommelier in the form of Jo Eames. Shame she wasn’t there to help me in the cellar after I had spent the best part of half an hour looking for ‘Sol’ wine; which I later learnt was in fact a bottled beer #foodie.
Poddies Nick, Jamie & John took care of the floor and with a section each, there was some fierce competition. Towards the end of the evening, it seemed the late night was getting to the guys and John was quick to get a beer and a paper at the bar when the shift was over.
Plus, we can’t forget our runners: Co-founder Hamish, Training Manager, Nicolette & Recruiter Nat Cash; who between them, managed to explode a bottle of fizz on the way to a table (taking out 4 wine glasses) and protect the pub from the Rugby Club’s slightly unsavoury games. What Hamish didn’t realise when he offered them the generous discount for the night, was that they had all been in Bedford brewery for a whole day of ‘tastings’.
The reception desk was manned by the beautiful Sales & Marketing team. As well as checking in a number of guests, they were also on hand to kindly remind the rugby team that the reception desk was not a second bar. Perhaps Dom’s bottle of wine by the phone got them confused!? However, Marketing Assistant Hannah ensured that our Rugby Guests were being looked after so we didn’t get any complaints.
Fortunately, the trusty financial team hung on to the end of the night to cash up. Sadly for them, the Thursday night half price Prosecco offer led to more than a few stragglers, making it the latest night the accounts team have ever worked in their lives!
Despite facing a few challenges, the central team proved that they’ve still got what it takes to run a pub by successfully serving a full eatery. We also managed to raise £95 in tips, which were all donated to local charity,Sports Traider.
A big well done to The Embankment team for a very successful Christmas and well done to the Central Team for not destroying the pub, completely.
For a live commentary of the evenings events check out the Embankment’s Twitter feed and Facebook album
