Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Quick insight into Thread’s latest activities now we are six ….

Celebrating six years supporting businesses with their catering and hospitality challenges. From catering space planning and office relocation, to procurement, quality audits and cost reduction strategies, alongside our colleagues and clients we have navigated our way through a very demanding year.

In keeping with our company values we have continued to make donations to the local foodbank and are proud to provide a few hours of voluntary support to the NHS to ensure we give back to the local community.

We’re expanding our skill set with nutrition advice and planning a number of refurbishment and cost reduction projects for implementation in the spring. As hospitality businesses plan to reopen again we look forward to supporting them with our clients; to develop sustainable business models going forward – we’re excited about the year ahead!

As returning to workplaces and a “new normal” starts to feel within our grasp, many of our catering and hospitality providers, and corporate clients who select them as their supplier, are reconfiguring spaces and planning how to make their operations viable and safe for workers and customers. I always say we like to think we’re different at Thread, and one of the reasons why is our desire to leave a lasting legacy with the people IN the organisations we work with, not only positive impacts for those leading them, and that’s about providing them with additional expertise, knowledge and confidence in what they do.

This investment in people is critical to give confidence in getting people back into workplaces and social environments, so I am delighted to see that international provider of food hygiene, health and safety advice – Common Sense Compliance – who I have worked with for many years have launched a specific training programme to give catering suppliers and corporate procurement teams confidence in the practical steps that they are taking to get operations open. They’ve developed industry specific COVID-19 policies and toolkits, and can deliver training via webinar to operational teams. And as Environmental Health Professionals, they can also review and evaluate any existing COVID-19 policies or plans you may have started developing to ensure they’re compliant – and certify them to give greater assurance. I’ve gone so far as to endorse their training, their audit and their policy review and certification services, so if you would find this valuable, contact me directly.

This is just one of the simple, effective and speedy mechanics that will help keep the hospitality industry moving and trading in line with government lifting of restrictions as they happen.  Some others I have found inspiring are:

• The Grand Outdoor Café campaign – to encourage landlords and governments to be flexible on licencing and demise regulations to enable operators to use outdoor space to enable greater social distancing and optimise capacity (and profitability) for food & beverage operators.
• Designer Deliveries – with chefs like Adam Handling initiating his “Hame” delivery service of high end dishes that travel better than some of his restaurant concepts but meet the expectations of his diners, will we see greater flexibility in future from the Michelin and premium dining market? Gymkhana, Hakkasan and Hide are all offering similar take out options already, who will follow….
• Contactless egg and milk vending machines at local farms – they’ve been around since long before the outbreak but have come into their own in recent weeks; I hope that noticing the difference in quality will encourage locals to continue to source this way regularly.
• Our local Warwickshire Gin company adding hand sanitiser to its production line – diversifying to support the challenges in demand, and benefit from a new revenue stream while out of home alcohol sales are at their lowest.
• Creation and sending of “care packages” to friends and family – from craft breweries to George & Joseph Cheesemongers Self Isolation Survival Kit – I am sure additional revenue streams for some businesses will continue long after the pandemic has stabilised.  

As borders continue to close and not just the UK, but the world takes an unexpected “time out”, we are thinking about all of those who are fighting the war against COVID-19 (including the blue light services, frontline NHS staff and teachers caring for key worker families), but also those fighting to keep their hospitality businesses afloat and alive until the world settles once more.

We are fortunate at Thread Consultancy that our client portfolio is broad and diverse, and many are still in need of our time and services. We are therefore running business as usual but via remote working of course.

But we understand that the world of hospitality is in extremely challenging times and may need some help during this unprecedented time.  So now we have taken time to steady our own course, we want to reach out to those in the industry to offer support – if you have a basic query, or something you think we can help with remotely, we will be pleased to speak with you free of charge. We must help each other through the tough time, to ensure we survive for the good! 

As British Airways eloquently articulated last week, when the world starts turning once again, once travel is permitted and social distancing measures relaxed, “it will be epic”. Families will be reunited, people will celebrate their friendships, communities will recognise their heroes – and the hospitality industry will do what it does best – provide spaces, comfort and service that surprises, delights and creates wonderful memories.

It’s been reported that the emergency food aid sector, including food banks, have been struggling due to the drop in donations from both individuals and the supermarkets in the last two months since COVID-19 took hold of the nation.

We know that the outbreak has made it much more difficult for some families and individuals to either financially or physically access food. As such, we have continued to contribute to our local food bank, as we have for the last three years ensuring some of our success at Thread goes back into the local community. We are incredibly proud of the work that the centre at Stratford Upon Avon is undertaking at this difficult time, including having to move premises to the Methodist Church in Old Town to ensure volunteers and customers remain safe.  

This Christmas we want to wish all our clients, friends, colleagues and wider network a wonderful, restful and mindful festive break.

Whether you’re enjoying turkey dinners, Boxing Day feasts or new year celebrations, it is the time of year we really appreciate what amazing food we have access to, and think about others less fortunate than ourselves. As has become tradition, we have made a donation to Stratford-upon-Avon Food Bank this year in place of cards to help local people in crisis. With one in five people in the UK living below the poverty line, the 1000+ emergency food packages for people over the christmas period are invaluable.

We’re proud to be supporting them once again and ensuring a tangible difference in the lives of people within our local community.

The Eurasian cuisine has been mooted as THE cuisine of 2019 by a San Franciscan hospitality trend consultancy, and it’s largely down to the Instagram popularity of one regional dish, khachapuri; an impressive bread boat filled with cheese and runny egg. What’s not to love?! But is this a one time phenomenon or has it sparked our interest in the mountainous country sandwiched between Europe and Asia?

It is Georgia’s location at the midpoint of the ancient East–West trade routes, that means that Georgians were seemingly able to hand pick the best of what the Turks, Greeks, Mongols and Arabs were cooking along the Silk Road. The influence from Turkish cooking, Russian dishes and Persian flavours, combined with one of the oldest Jewish populations in the world have resulted in an interesting range of dishes which make use of the country’s own organic produce, and which appeal to us as modern day foodies.

Perhaps surprisingly, walnuts are prominent in Georgian cooking. They are essential in popular dishes such as chicken bazhe and vegetable pkhali (chopped salads) but in a pulverized form it’s often used like the French use butter: whisked into soups and sauces to add richness and body, and when chopped and candied in honey it’s often seen as a simple dessert called gozinaki.

The Georgian table is a full one as their people are said to be very hospitable and love to treat guests to feasts, known as ‘supra’, which often last for hours. Georgia is one of the countries where wine was first produced and it features heavily in their meals, along with many cold and hot starters such as pkhali (chopped vegetables with walnuts and herbs shaped into balls and often spread onto freshly baked slipper shaped loaves), plates of herbs (more like salad leaves in Georgian meals – purple basil and tarragon being very popular and seen as incredible for health) and cheese, clay pot cooked dishes and stews, plus breads and pickles (such as Ajika – a fiery condiment that we’re told is very addictive but are yet to try!). The provenance and health attributes of the ingredients are critical to the Georgians, which is hugely in keeping with the trends we see on our High Streets and at our tables at home.

Unfortunately, the interest in Georgian cuisine seems to have failed to venture outside of London so far, although there are now a number of highly acclaimed restaurants including Iberia, The Georgian, Little Georgia Café and Mimino to name but a few.  We’re looking forward to seeing more options across the country over 2019/20!