Hotel Directors Meeting March 2020

22 Musicians Union.

I held special meetings with the Musician’s Union to draw up a list of unionised bands in the region who could work for the hotel. Assurances were given that this would be used and that union bands only would be appointed. We went further and considered arrangements with bands and performers in Equity to offer their services with some commission to us to wedding couples and others.

As far as I am aware none of this has been done.

Why is this important : The best bands and performers (from magicians to jugglers or cartoonists) who could all add value to weddings and other occasions, are unionised and we are encouraging the unionisation of this sector.

Tim and Ian to comment after SMT Meeting.

6/3/20: the list of contacts is provided to all bridal couples as part of the pack at the time they make the enquiry, but many couples have their own ideas and contacts.

23 Marketing spare capacity

The appointment of a sales and marketing person didn’t work and we then discussed distributing some of these functions, social media etc to the in house hotel team. This work has not been methodical, effective or sustained and you will see various elements of our social media presence are very out of date. It feels that the GFTU will have to facilitate doing this work and our proposal is to take on a full time person with a subsidy of £10k per annum from the hotel marketing budget.

Why is this important: a social media and systematic marketing capacity is needed.

Underway. 6/3/20: There is a lot of targeted marketing activity being supported by Georgia Wilkinson.

24 Forecasts

Weekly business forecasts have been requested so that Directors can see the business hands on each week. Why is this important: The hotel should surely be having a weekly look at future business ahead and by enabling the Directors to see this enable wider participation in spotting problems and issues. It also at a glance makes people aware of the kind of business we are getting. Tim and Andrew to have a discussion regarding reporting weekly update on cash position versus cashflow projections then proposals needed.

6/3/20: currently being done monthly through Rezlynx.

25 Taking accommodation overspill

The question has been raised about formalising any arrangements with local hotels for mutual swapping of business when full etc.

Why is this important : It could be a line of additional business.

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