Feeding the high flyers
A trendy young woman holds out her plate for a burger in a bap, a man in a suit waits at the stir-fry Wokerie for chicken in lemon and ginger, and a chic, middle-aged woman crams her take-away container with a variety of salads. It's a typical scene at the Dinner Hall, the staff restaurant at Virgin Atlantic's newly opened £28m headquarters in Crawley, West Sussex, and it's one that mirrors the company's attitude toward its employees.
"Staff here are very mixed in both age and salary ranges," explains William Baxter, joint managing director of Baxter & Platts, which has the catering contract. "We have very young reservations staff, senior managers and a board of directors. There are shift workers wanting late lunches and early teas, employees wanting a main midday meal, plus a big demand for sandwiches. Virgin wants to make sure all its staff have what they want."
The 275-seat restaurant opened in early September with 1,100 staff on site and an initial uptake of 400-500 that is expected to rise to an estimated 70%, excluding the take-way and sandwich trade. Average spend per head is about £1.85 and turnover is predicted to be in excess of £500,000.
B&P already caters for Virgin Atlantic's flight staff training centre and its Upper Class departure lounge, both at Heathrow. These are the only Virgin sites that have a full catering service, the others having only a vending facility. Virgin asked Baxter for "immediate input" when the headquarters project started 18 months ago, but with no guarantee that he would get the catering contract.
In the event, B&P was given an annual rolling contract for 12 months, which gives flexibility for Virgin to review it.
"Virgin Atlantic has a high profile and high quality, and we wanted this to be reflected in the catering," says Virgin's Sarah Morris, who, as manager facilities service, is B&P's client contact. "We want to supply our staff with the same level of service as our customers, to give them an idea of the high standards being provided for clients."
The contract is cost-plus with a management fee and the restaurant is set to generate 30% gross profit to reduce subsidy. Because many parameters, such as manning levels, have not yet been settled, this is to be reviewed after six months. "Until service requirements and levels are identified, we're not letting the budget dictate," says Morris.
The decor was considered vital in creating an ambience for the employee mix. All the food is served in the Dinner Hall from the servery, which includes the Wokerie, and a separate deli counter, but the room is divided into four distinct dining styles to suit the company's "youth, dynamism and very human, comfortable ethos".
Immediately inside the entrance is a French-style café with wire-legged Italian cane chairs, and art nouveau-style metal dividers. Opposite, in stark contrast, is the "college" area, with refectory tables and benches. A path of Welsh slate curves its way into the darker café-bar section, which has dark red furniture set alongside the deli counter and a curved bar made from American cherry wood. At the far end of the restaurant, overlooking the garden, is the carpeted fine-dining area complete with Lloyd Loom chairs in green and gold. The curves are reflected in the Baltic brown granite servery, which sweeps around the serving area.
The menus are devised by Jamie Styler, general catering manager, and head chef Simon Young, previously senior sous chef at the Dorchester. Morris, meanwhile, ensures Virgin's policy on quality and interesting dishes is enforced.
Food is, therefore, prepared fresh, with the emphasis on home-made goods such as chutneys and pastries. Styler and his team respond to requests by customers, providing anything from picnic hampers and decorated cakes to fish and chips for Japanese visitors.
The stir-fry operation, the Wokerie, with dishes priced at about £2.40, offers live theatre and has proved popular. Take-away is booming, especially pre-lunch sandwiches, with many Virgin staff more used to buying food to eat in offices than having a staff restaurant. The breakfast service originally aimed at shift workers is now being patronised by nine-to-five staff. "They tend to work out in the fitness centre on the premises and then come in here and tuck into a full breakfast," says Styler.
He and his team of 27 are also responsible for filling and cleaning 34 vending machines, which serve hot and cold beverages and snacks, sited in six coffee link areas overlooking the roof garden on top of the restaurant. Each floor also has a pantry area with fridge, microwave, dishwasher, table-top coffee machine and chilled water.
The operation is certainly versatile, as illustrated by the growing number of requests for meals and refreshments to be served in directors' rooms and some of the 40 meeting rooms.
"The catering is of such a high standard we've already decided to hold business lunches in-house," says Morris. "We also plan to hold our Christmas celebrations here instead of all doing our own thing, as in the past.
"We wanted the restaurant to be multi-functional, suitable for formal and informal meetings for the daytime and evening. This is why, although the catering ceases at 2.30pm, the Dinner Hall remains open, with music playing, so staff can use it as a break from their offices."
On the back of the catering, Virgin has already been approached by local companies keen to hire the restaurant for special events in the evening. At the moment, the Dinner Hall is open in the evenings so staff can use the bar, thus whether Morris agrees to hire it out depends on how much use it gets.
Styler and Young went on site three months before the restaurant was completed to get to know the customers. Finding there were staff on the premises but no catering, they asked Morris for a spare room, and 48 hours later had set up a shop selling snacks, sandwiches and useful items such as pints of milk. It ended up taking £500 a day.
The initiative is typical of the project. "It's been a most exciting opportunity for building a catering facility of quality and we've provided the best of everything," says Morris.
Look for our feature on Virgin catering behind the scenes in Chef, 4 December
