Hospitality managers found their seating provided in the form of banqueting furniture during the Institute of Hospitality's recent Annual Lunch, giving them a chance to go 'back to the floor' while the executive staff of the host venue, the Lancaster London Hotel, did the same.
The venue's executives ordinarily do not cook or wait on tables, but returned to such roles as a one-off for the occasion on May 29th, and with good reason.
Craig Robertson MIH, event manager at the Lancaster London Hotel, told the Institute of Hospitality: "We have recently made a significant investment in our kitchen, so this was a great opportunity for some of the executive team to get a really close-up look at how the new kitchen operates."
He added that the day was "a really good experience that brought the whole team together".
While the executives were slaving in the kitchen, the hospitality industry's great and good were dining out front, perched on banqueting furniture that seated 250 guests at tables of ten each.
It was not only a useful networking event; it also serves as a useful demonstration of why it is important to experience your venue as an ordinary customer might do, so that you can make informed decisions about adding further banqueting furniture to your own array of seating options.
By getting 'back to the floor' and road-testing your own seating, tables and so on, you can hopefully spot any weak points, from a lack of accommodation for disabled diners, to a need for more family-friendly seating that allows younger diners to reach the table.
With stackable seating, you can have plenty of spare chairs packed away in even a fairly small amount of storage space, and stackable banqueting tables can be put away compactly too.
This gives you the ability to accommodate different numbers of guests - important if you're a venue that can be hired out for business events, weddings and so on - without having empty seats left over.
And if you hold a test run of your furniture as an industry event in your own right, you too could gain some networking benefits from the day as well.