After Tastes

01 January 2000
After Tastes

Tastes director Catriona Butcher has spent the last two months working even harder than usual, spending long days and short, sleepless nights trying to keep up with the catering demands of one particular new customer - her baby daughter, Isabella.

Born on 15 June, Isabella is keeping Butcher away from the office until mid-September, but she's not worried. In fact, she's waiting for the final decision on a merger with one of her main rivals, which could send Tastes' turnover past the magic £1m mark.

Not that it's doing too badly already. For the last financial year, Tastes' turnover was £600,000, up almost 50% on the year before. There are new contracts and more events business from existing clients, thanks to a push in public relations.

"We did a lot of work last year on customer care and maintaining our current clients, building them up and trying to nurture them," explains Butcher. "Although we did a lot of contract work day-to-day, those existing clients didn't necessarily know we did events as well and obviously catering for them is the icing on the cake."

Building up the image

Butcher invested £10,000 in a company brochure last year as well as an image change for the Tastes logo - an investment that seems to have paid off 12 months later.

New contracts totalling £100,000 have come from two government departments and two training companies. And, according to Butcher, another £100,000-worth of business has been built up through increased attention to customer care.

She is, however, staying tight-lipped over the possible merger. She is waiting until a decision comes through in September, but she will reveal that it is a rival company with twice the turnover of Tastes.

"We've got our fingers crossed," she says. "It's still a bit up in the air but if it happens, it will create a separate events department and a contracts department where it's all one at the moment."

Tastes is under the day-to-day charge of operations manager Brenda Barrett while Butcher is on maternity leave. Barrett joined the company in December 1998 as office manager, but took on the new role after Butcher became pregnant.

"Obviously we got a good lead-up time - it's not a sudden thing," she laughs. "We knew for the best part of seven months this was going to happen. I trained her up to look after the business, and she's worked marvels."

Barrett's new role isn't the only change in staffing. Tastes has finally got itself a head chef after a problematic recruitment period 12 months ago. Dominic Hamilton started seven months ago and, so far, Butcher is delighted with him.

"He's really stabilised the kitchen," she says. "He's managing the kitchen, the staff and the costs. We never had a problem with finding someone who's a very good chef, but we could never find anyone who could manage the staff and costs as well."

At the moment, Butcher is looking ahead at a busy future with a new baby, a new house and, she hopes, a new business if the merger goes ahead.

"Until the end of the next financial year, we'll be concentrating on rationalising the business and making sure all the areas are working well. That will be my main role."

Tastes

The Foundry Annexe, 65 Glasshill Street, London SE1

Tel: 020 7721 7267 Fax: 020 7721 7268

Turnover 1998/9: £600,000

Turnover 1997/8: £380,000

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