Tag: drinks industry

The importance of training and investing in staff

The importance of training and investing in staff

Posted on | by Excel Recruitment

Our Managing Director, Shane McLave, featured in the latest edition of Drinks Industry Ireland magazine discussing the importance of investing in staff. Highlighting that while offering an extensive package is crucial for the success of your business, providing training is equally important in order to retain your employees.

It really doesn’t matter how fantastic a Bar, Restaurant or Hotel you have, and it doesn’t matter how many millions you invest in cutting edge design, out of this world locations, great menus, and cocktails, if you neglect to invest in your team and empower them to excel as the finest in their field, then everything else becomes inconsequential.

I’ve been involved with the hospitality industry since the age of 16, starting my journey in kitchens as a Kitchen Porter and progressing to the role of Head Chef. Eventually, I transitioned into the field of recruitment, where I acquired extensive insights into various facets of the industry. This journey was fueled by my experience working with renowned brands nationwide and connecting great people with outstanding companies.

In recent years, as unemployment rates have reached historic lows, the landscape of job offers has significantly expanded when it comes to potential employers vying for candidates. We’ve witnessed a notable shift where individuals are no longer solely driven by the highest salary but are instead making decisions based on the overall package offered. This package now includes an array of benefits, such as health insurance, additional annual leave, mental health days, extended sick leave, pension plans, car allowances, tax-saving travel options, signing bonuses, loyalty rewards, flexible work hours, remote and hybrid work arrangements, gym memberships, complimentary meals, provided uniforms, social club memberships, accommodation assistance or allowances, and job-sharing options, among others. Despite this myriad of enticing perks, one of the most frequently asked questions I encounter from candidates is centered around the training opportunities and prospects for career advancement. In summary, while offering an extensive package is crucial for the success of your hospitality business, providing top-notch training is equally essential and holds significant importance for the individuals you bring on board.

A big part of what we do in Excel Recruitment revolves around supporting and promoting the hospitality industry and one of the many ways we do this is through sponsoring and judging awards. Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate to embark on an incredible journey across Ireland, exploring a diverse range of Bars, Hotels, Spas, and Restaurants. After meticulously visiting and thoroughly evaluating each property, our panel of judges convenes to meticulously review every entry, scrutinising the scores and deliberating extensively to determine the overall winners. Our panel of judges comprises an extensive spectrum of industry experts, encompassing lecturers from leading Hospitality Colleges, seasoned Hotel General Managers, accomplished Recruiters, seasoned Professional Food Critics, and a cadre of industry professionals. Some of these individuals boast a lifetime of experience in managing some of the most renowned establishments in Ireland.

Throughout my years of judging various establishments, I’ve encountered quite a diverse range of experiences. Among them, there have been numerous winners, but what stands out is the element of surprise. There have been instances where I entered with certain expectations, only to have my opinions completely transformed. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say that the single most influential factor in shaping my judgment has consistently been the staff I encountered and interacted with.

I’ve visited opulent five-star hotels and high-end bars where the surroundings were truly breath-taking, yet the service provided was nothing short of disappointing, resulting in an overall unpleasant experience. Conversely, I’ve ventured into places that were initially unfamiliar or appeared rather average, only to be blown away by the level of service and the engaging personalities of those who interacted with me. In such cases, I had no option but to bestow upon them the highest possible ratings.

One of my favourite places that I discovered during my judging duties, has now become my go to destination during my leisure time. My initial interaction was memorable for all the wrong reasons – a waiter inadvertently spilling my drink on my dinner, which subsequently fell onto me. However, it was the remarkable handling of this situation that truly impressed me.

We all understand that things can go smoothly when all is well, but the real measure of success lies in how challenges are navigated and turned around. In essence, no matter how many millions you invest in a venue, it pales in comparison if the staff aren’t genuinely content in their roles and equipped to skilfully manage every circumstance. True excellence stems from the people who make it happen.

If you’re looking for hospitality training, you can visit our sister company websites futureprooftraining.ie or  irishbaristaacademy.ie for more information.

You can check out this feature in the Drinks Industry Ireland magazine here

Shane McLave Paul Wallace Pura

Excel’s Managing Director, Shane McLave, met with Paul Wallace to discuss his new venture Pura

Posted on | by Editorial Team

Although Paul Wallace retired from professional rugby twenty years ago, we still see him on TV regularly on Sky Sports or hear him on the radio talking with vast knowledge and passion about the sport that he excelled in during his career, from playing with UCC, Munster, Leinster, Saracens, Ireland, and the British and Irish Lions. Paul started out during the period before professional rugby was even a thing, and talking to him last week after Munster won the URC, you can tell that his enthusiasm for Rugby is equally matched by his enthusiasm for his new venture “Pura”.

Pura, distributed by Natio, has a range of 100% natural ingredient-based canned sodas and infused fruit drinks in cartons aimed at kids, with no colourants or preservatives and low in sugar. I met with Paul recently to taste some of the products and chat to him about how he ended up involved in the drinks industry.

How did you end up in the drinks industry?

I was lucky in my rugby career that I got to travel a lot for games, and while we were on the pitch, even though we were adversaries, I made some lifelong and lasting friendships. It was through my time playing in South Africa that a friend I made there contacted me to see if I would be interested in coming on board with Pura. I studied Business at UCC and have worked in the international commercial property sector since I stopped playing professional rugby.

There are plenty of drinks on the market with zero calories. What makes Pura different or healthier than them?

Pura are a low-calorie drink, not a no-calorie one, and offer a fantastic range of mixers that we would see replacing many of the current favourites, shaking up the traditional mixer market. Our products are made from 100% natural ingredients. We do have a small amount of sugar in our products, but they are natural, and as sugar has been around for a very long time, we know what the pros and cons are. Whereas, with the many zero-calorie products that are available, the only way this can be done is with artificial additives, like aspartame, that we know for a fact is a carcinogen, and as with many other sweeteners, we don’t even know what some of the other long-term effects could be. People look at zero-calorie beverages and think that it must be ok to drink them in high quantities daily, but this is sadly not the case. As a father of two 5-year-olds, I know extremely well how many products out there aimed at kids are full of nasty stuff, and I personally believe there should be a tax on artificial sweeteners and not just on sugar. I think any kind of soda, whether it is aimed at kids or adults, needs to be a special treat that you can have once or twice a week.

As somebody who sells beverages with a healthier natural USP, what is your opinion on alcohol when it comes to the sponsorship of sports?

I think that when it comes to sporting organisations, many of them rely heavily on the sponsorship that they receive and would struggle to continue if this funding was banned altogether, but at the same time, the approach to this needs to be based on common sense. I think the zero-alcohol movement has been a good compromise, as sports and alcohol don’t mix in many ways. I have always been big on fitness, and I think that with the level that many sports are played at now, across many different disciplines, if you want to be at the top of your game, you would be advised to steer clear as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I love to go for a few pints of Guinness in Franks of Monkstown or Donny and Nesbitt, and I love the atmosphere that you can find when you go into many of the fantastic pubs we are blessed with in Ireland, so I am not anti-alcohol, but just like sugar, you have to think of it as a treat and drink responsibly.

Check out Pura at www.livealittlepura.com for more information.

Career trajectories

Career Trajectories – Shane McLave, Managing Director

Posted on | by Editorial Team

Our Managing Director, Shane McLave featured in Drinks Industry Ireland speaking to James Doherty of Sliabh Liag Distillers about his career trajectory which led him to establish his drinks business.

As a recruiter, I regularly meet with people who ask me for advice on their career, whether they have been working in a particular role or industry, have lost faith in the industry or the particular job they are in, or if they are looking for a change but they don’t know where to start or what the possibilities are for them.

However, in my experience, it’s not as simple as picking a career, going to college to study, and/or landing your dream job. As a result, the advice I give to people is that your dream job and the skills you need for it are normally built up over a number of years and through working in many different jobs or industries. Most people have three distinct periods in their working life, each period as important as the other in shaping what we end up doing. The first jobs we get as teenagers or students are often part-time jobs in retail or hospitality and the careers that we have in our 20s and 30s are typically related to our studies along with the time in our lives when we want the security to buy a home or start a family and sometimes, the lucky ones end up realising what their real passion is and what is most important to them to give them a sense of purpose and satisfaction whether this is through gaining a work life balance or simply doing something that they feel makes a difference to the lives of others or helps them leave their mark on the world.

Career trajectory

This week, I had the pleasure of talking to James Doherty of Sliabh Liag Distillers about his journey from growing up and studying as an engineer in the UK to working in Africa and then moving into a sales role in Asia, before returning to his ancestral home in Donegal. Doherty ended up founding and building the first distillery to legally produce whiskey in Donegal since 1841. I asked him a few questions about his career to date. With all the nervousness we see reported in the media about our over reliance as an economy on corporate tax and overseas multinationals, I found it really heartening to talk to James about the current and future possibilities around some of our indigenous industries and how they are helping to bring employment and prosperity in a sustainable way to so many towns around the island of Ireland.

How did you end up in the drinks industry?

Almost by accident, an engineer by training, I came home from growing tea in Africa to the UK and managed to grab a break with WM Grants (Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Hendricks) in a sales role (despite my lack of experience) and a few years later, I was on the board. I left them with a wanderlust and headed to Asia with my family where we did pretty well too, and then decided we could do spirits brands and distilleries in a different way to the big corporates – the result is the Ardara Distillery, the home of Sliabh Liag Distillers, An Dúlamán Gin and The Silkie Irish Whiskey. The business is growing rapidly, while creating opportunities locally and doing so against a macro back drop that is really challenging.

Can you give me a brief history of the company?

We started in 2015, with an ambition to reclaim the distilling heritage of Donegal. We unfortunately lost a bit of time to some ridiculous land issues but still built the gin distillery in 2017, and launched An Dulaman Gin (currently in 35 countries). We also launched Silkie Irish whiskey as it is now in 2019 and have shipped to 40 countries and sold almost 15,000 9L cases. Subsequently, we distilled the first whiskey in 2020 before building the main whiskey building in 2021. Our first whiskey will be released in July of this year – the first legally distilled whiskey in Donegal since 1841.

How many people are now employed by the distillery and what do you think the industry is worth to the wider economy?

Currently, we have built the team up to 26 employees, but we expect to have up to 40 in due course who will be based at the distillery in Ardara and the bottling hall in Carrick. The majority of our employees work in Carrick in the bottling and administration centre, and we also have a few people based internationally. The export value (the distillery gate if you like) of the Irish whiskey industry exceeded €1bn for the first time in 2022, and don’t forget that 96% is exported.

How many people are employed directly in the Irish whiskey industry and are you seeing challenges in the current labour market?

Approximately 2,000 people are employed across the island. The labour situation is tight, but this hasn’t specifically impacted us in our own distillery as we have a pretty stable team. The competition for talented people is very intense due to the positive growth we are seeing within the sector.

 

You can check out this feature in the Drinks Industry Ireland magazine here