Jim Sullivan leaves his mark on the UK

While operators invested in making sure their teams got the Sullivan experience, the aim of the day, as Jim Sullivan made clear, was how to put "cash in your pocket".

Running profitable business by being brilliant at the basics of operations and leadership was the theme for the day - with "embracing change" the key to achieving that.

The main conclusion, however, is that everything revolves round your people - who you hire, how you hire and how you keep them on their game. "Hire slow, fire fast" is one of his favourite lines. Taking care to get the best people from the outset will pay off - "make hiring your most important decision".

But now is also a good time to start clearing out the "deadwood", those under-performers that don't meet your standards. Keeping poor staff just brings the rest of the team down to their level.

As Jim is also is prone to say: "It's not the people you fire that cause you problems, it's the ones you don't".

But poor performance is the responsibility of management; people provide bad service because they are allowed to.

As more than one executive remarked on the day: "It's not that we don't know a lot of this, it's just that we need reminding to do it."

Building a talent scaffold in your business and then getting the best from the team is essential. "Run it like you own it" is the Sullivan advice.

He emphasises the need to teach teams why you want something done, before teaching them how. Putting together a "state of the business" meeting is perhaps a good idea in current times.

Jim Sullivan believes the shift is where the game is won and running effective pre-shift meetings is key to that.

The four-hour presentation covered a wide spectrum of the operational issues from cost-control to marketing. If you couldn't make it and think this all sounds a little too cheesy American, have a word with some of the many that did attend.

If were there and want to order copies of Jim's book Multi Unit Leadership, just contact Christine Martin at christine@peach-factory.com.


Don't let supermarkets win another PR battle

The restaurant and pub market is in danger of losing another PR war with the supermarkets ' because many operators appear afraid to talk up the business.

Supermarket chains would have us believe that the British public is weathering the economic storm by staying at home. 'Eating-in is the new eating-out', at least one group has proclaimed. Don't believe it.

While retail food prices continue to rise, the cost of eating out is generally coming down ' fuelled in large part by a crop of discount offers from the leading chains.

Not everyone is faring well, but many are doing better than they dared expect ' that's backed up both by conversations with leading players and by Peach factory's own figures. The British public is continuing to go out to eat and drink. They may be more discerning, but they have not given up.

The supermarkets are in a PR battle, and they know their biggest competitors in the food and drink arena are pubs and restaurants. The problem is that sections of the media are latching on to the notion that pubs and restaurants sales are universally suffering and eating and drinking out is dead.

The claims need to be rebuffed ' not least because consumers may start believing them and stop going out, because they think nobody else is.

To get the full flavour of the Sullivan approach, and to catch up on the main topics covered in the London workshop, go to www.sullivision.com.