‘At your discretion’ Restaurant Appeal

Hospitality Action are showcasing an opportunity that will enable your restaurant to show its commitment to its industry charity and raise much-needed funds, without having to spend a single penny. Last year this initiative raised almost £3,000 for the charity and with your help we would like to raise even more this year.

The hospitality industry’s charity, Hospitality Action, is looking to partner with a wide network of restaurants throughout the UK during its annual HA Fundraising Week from 13th-19th May.

How you can help
Simply by adding a discretionary donation of £1 to each diner’s bill, for just one week, you will help to showcase how much we as an industry care about our own staff. Let’s come together to support those in crisis in our industry and make a real difference!

Sign up now!
To register or to find out more, please contact Astrid on 0203 004 5503 or email astrid@hospitalityaction.org.uk. Registering to participate in this initiative will not incur any cost to your business.

You can download the particiaption form here

Experience the delights of Formby Hall

Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa combines the charm of a boutique hotel with the delights of a 4-star luxury spa hotel and golf resort, right in the heart of England’s Golf Coast. Set amongst 135 acres of parkland, with fabulous views overlooking the golf course, Formby Hall is also a prestigious wedding venue.

One Cost has worked closely with the team at Formby Hall since September 2011 and we are delighted to be able to offer the use of the One Cost Corporate Golf membership to our clients. This enables our clients to enjoy a day at Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa and take advantage of the wonderful facilities that they have to offer.

The partnership between Formby Hall and One Cost is of mutual benefit, giving One Cost a fantastic venue to entertain our clients and promoting Formby Hall within our client base.

One Cost have enjoyed several great days at Formby Hall. The food has always been excellent and the staff attentive and full of good advice for playing a round on the 18 Hole Old Course.  The spa facilities have also been enjoyed by the One Cost team who found the Spa experience truly indulgent.

To find out more about Formby Hall Golf resort & Spa please visit their website www.formbyhallgolfresort.co.uk or contact Clair Bates at One Cost on 01942 290100.

London Calling

Welcome Mark Collins!

You may have read our article in October about expanding our activity in London following the fantastic results we have had working with a small group of clients.

We are delighted to announce that we have appointed Mark Collins as our Business Development Manager for London. Marks comes to us with a wealth of experience of working in the Hospitality sector. He has a real understanding of many of the issues faced by hospitality business having worked as a chef and as a successful Account Manager for several well-known and established suppliers to the industry.

Mark will spend the first three weeks on induction at our offices in Warrington before starting on his task of further developing the relationships with those clients we already have and then growing our presence in London.

Richard Murcott, one of the Directors, said “We are very excited about Mark’s appointment and hope that we will be in the position to assist and support many more businesses in the London region to improve their profit levels, especially as we know that life is tough in the City at present!“

Combat rising energy costs

If you are concerned about rising energy costs and the effect of this on your business, contact One Cost today to see if we can help.

Commercial energy prices are one of the largest costs facing any business. One Cost clients have found they have been able to make substantial savings on their energy bills by benefiting from considerable expertise of our utility broker.

* Don’t spend more that you need to – our expert broker can find the best deals for you

* We can provide a free assessment of your current contracts

* Our broker often has the power to negotiate prices that are lower than supplier’s own rates

* Every client receives a named utilities Account Manager for the duration of their contract

Want to find out more? Call Clair on 01942 290102 or e-mail clair@onecost.co.uk today

One Cost Summit

Always ready for a challenge, Business Development Manager Kevin Hesketh and Director Richard Murcott joined the Tech-Box Fitness Winter Climb of Mount Snowdon on 12th January.

Six members of the Tech-Box Fitness Club, run by Kevin, and Richard set off on what would be a climb of two halves. Although the first part of the climb along the Miners track was overcast and cold, the conditions on the second part when the group left this track to join the Pyg trail could only be described as challenging. The climb becomes more demanding at this stage and with low cloud; freezing winds; ice and frost the group really had their work cut out.

“Reaching the summit was a great achievement. The wind was violent and in one part sounded like a jet engine as it blew across the mountain summit” reflected Kevin when sharing tales of the adventure back at the office with the One Cost Team.

This was the first “real” mountain climb Richard has done. “What a great experience which was very worthwhile doing even though the going was tough. The weather, oddly enough, made it more exciting.” Richard said. “I have to admit when we got back to the cars after six hours I was absolutely knackered!” he added. “Although if anything, it has made me want to do it again.”

The picture shows “frost covered” Kevin, on the right, and Richard at the summit.

Electronic Gift Cards

Introducing a Gift Card Plus programme into your business can help you:

Increase your sales and profits
Most gift card holders spend more than the value of their gift card (up to 40% more).

Encourage repeat business
Reward your loyal customers with a small gift redeemable on their next visit.

Provide your customers with a great gift idea
Gift cards are consistently one of the top gifts during the Christmas season. They attract new customers and boost sales all year long.

Attract new customers
Given by friends and family as a present, gift cards are a great incentive for new customers to sample your business!

* Around 9% of customers don’t spend the whole value of the card – meaning more income for you!

* Simple to manage – the Electronic Gift Card Plus programme is easy to operate for any size of business.

* Find out more – call Jo on 01942 290101 or e-mail joanne@onecost.co.uk to discover how gift cards can improve your business!

Recruiting in London

Following recent successes One Cost has had in London, plans are advancing to recruit a new member of the team to head up their London activity.

“We continue to be impressed with the level of benefit we have been able to identify for the businesses we are working with in London” explained Kevin Hesketh, who is presently heading up the London pilot project.

“Our offices are in the North West so with the success of the pilot putting a member of the team into London is a natural progression.”

We will start our recruitment campaign next month.

For details about this position, please contact us on 01942 290100 and ask for Michael.

“Punching above your weight!”

An expression often used in business circles which most people will be familiar with, however for One Cost’s Kevin Hesketh this stopped being a theoretical concept and became a reality when he came face to face with Audley Harrison, GB heavy-weight gold medallist from the 2000 Olympic games.

‘It wasn’t only weight I had to content with, it was height as well!’ explained Kevin.

Kevin was given the opportunity to meet Audley at the Formby Hall Resort and Golf Club where he had based himself prior to his fight on the weekend of October 13th.

“I was offered the chance to get involved by Marc Smith, General Manager. One Cost has been working with Formby Hall for over a year now and it was great to have the opportunity to be involved in something really unique especially as I am a great boxing fan. Audley was good enough to sign some gloves and have a general chat about the boxing game. What made it really exceptional was being able to train on the pads in the ring with Phil Paolina, Audley’s coach. I spent over half an hour in the ring with him and learned so much about heavyweight tactics, even though I would be quite light at 16 stone!”

Kevin, who runs a Boxercise Class in Ashton in Makerfield twice a week in his spare time added; “This was a great experience to be able to take back and share with the class to help them punch above their weight.”