Foodservice Cateys 2024: Front of House Team of the Year – Rapport at Permira

Judges were blown away by the personality and vibrancy of Rapport at Permira’s entry, which felt like the start of a joyous musical. “There you have it. Straight out of the bat. Our team motto. Small but mighty, there is nothing the Permira team can’t do,” it sang confidently.

This front of house team refers to each other as “artists” because they play a fundamental role in “creating experiences, generating feelings and provoking emotions”. Judges were inspired by the team’s ability to meet every challenge with optimism and good humour.

This positive attitude is emblematic of the training courses available for staff at Rapport at Permira, all of which champion inclusivity and excellent customer service. During the past 12 months, the six-person team has been enrolled on 37 training courses, making it an average of six courses per person. Staff are also encouraged to take tailored development programmes, such as ‘Inspire’, ‘Lead the Way’ and ‘Propeller’.

Because of the small scale of the business, each team member is recognised for who they are and receives tailored opportunities to grow, which has led to the team members being aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, the team created its own visitor management system, the Permira Loyalty Programme, which has proved to be an ingenious method of identifying returning guests through their preferences on what they like to drink or their favourite room to stay, leading to genuinely personalised visits.

The business takes this sort of creativity in its stride and has brought itself closer to meeting its environmental, social and governance targets as a result. As part of its sustainability drive, the team uses digital tablets instead of printing out a guest list, as well as giving out sustainable luggage tags to avoid having to waste around 100 sheets of paper each month. The team also celebrated Plastic Free July through ‘plogging’, which combines litter picking and jogging. And earlier this year the team celebrated its win at the Rapport Excellence Awards 2024 against 50 other contracts.

Rebecca West, director at Permira, said in her testimonial: “This team is A* in everything they do. Individually they are all exceptional but collectively they are perfection. They consistently go above and beyond to support the business. No request is too small, and I particularly appreciate how they always aim to add that personal touch.”

That personal touch really shone through in the entry, which was a joy to read. The industry eagerly anticipates the next show.

What the judges said

“Strong passion and a demonstration of the credibility behind ‘we are artists with no limits’. Each member has attended six programmes of development each year – impressive.”

Jeremy Alderton

“Ivan and the team showed a consistent level of excellence in every interaction they have with the client. The new management team is taking the contract from strength to strength and they all clearly love what they do – a great team!”

Jo Harley

See previous winners of the award here