The hospitality industry may be about providing food, drink, accommodation and service, but sometimes you have to go the extra mile to pull customers in. If you’re stuck for ideas on how to make your business more appealing take a look at what others are doing for inspiration.
Cocktails and cookery
London's city-based restaurant Cinnamon Kitchen and its adjacent cocktail lounge bar Anise will be teaching customers how to become experts in the kitchen or behind the bar with a series of cocktail and cookery masterclasses this autumn. Anise's monthly cocktail masterclasses, starting on September 14, last up to 90 minutes and for a £25 fee teach participants how to create some of the bar's signature cocktails and classics with a twist. Cinnamon Kitchen's executive chef Vivek Singh or one of his head chefs - Hari Nagaraj or Abdul Yaseen will teach participants how to cook a range of Indian dishes around the themes of entertaining for friends and family, South Indian food and cooking with game. Four-hour classes start on September 12 and cost £175 per person.
Grand Union gives away money
The Grand Union Group is giving customers a bit extra if they buy vouchers to spend in its bars. Customers spending £50 on vouchers will be given £60 worth; spending £500 they get £600 and so on. Vouchers can be spent in any Grand Union on food or drink and can be used on day of purchase. Grand Union Group owner Adam Marshall said: “Times are tough for many at the moment, so we’ve decided to cheer everyone up with some genuinely free money. There really are no catches".
Ladies lunch at Stanley House
Stanley House Hotel in Mellor, Lancashire is hoping to draw in a female crowd on September 10 at its next Ladies Who Lunch event. A host of Lancashire food and wine producers, florists, jewellers, designers and fashion boutiques will take over three of the hotel’s hospitality suites for 180 diners to browse before and after a three-course lunch of steamed salmon fillets with asparagus, peas and beans and vanilla poached William pears served in dark chocolate sauce created by chefs from Cassis, the hotel's fine-dining restaurant. Makeover duo Andrew and Liz Collinge will also be on hand to give their tips on hairdressing and make-up in a bid to help raise money for charity. Tickets are being sold for £45.
Catching the corporate crowd
Glasgow restaurant R34 Restaurant & Café @ India of Inchinnan has created a corporate events package to help make the most of the large Art Deco building it is located in. Corporate customers can hire one of the 10 private rooms, or all of them depending on the size of the event, with or without catering. Delegate day rates range from £1 to £27.50 per day.
Send promotional business ideas to share with the rest of the industry to news@bighospitality.co.uk.