Scott Williamson is the Head of Recruitment at Côte Restaurants, one of the most important restaurant groups to emerge on the UK market over the last ten years. His career started with the Firmdale Hotel Group before he moved to Strada, where he discovered his passion for recruitment and supported the group in their expansion throughout the mid noughties and their subsequent sale to Tragus.
Scott then spent some time with Carluccio’s before Côte came calling. With only half a dozen restaurants at the time but big expansion plans in place, the opportunity was too good to turn down: “Primarily I joined Côte because it offered me the opportunity to work again with the guys I had enjoyed working with so much in the early days of Strada. It felt like coming home. Côte was just starting to make a name for itself and I loved the product.”
The challenge of finding and retaining the right people
Côte opened its first restaurant in August 2007 in Wimbledon Village, and quickly started to develop an extraordinary reputation for the quality of their food and the great value for money it represented. By late 2009 Côte were starting to open restaurants in affluent commuter towns and university cities throughout the South of England.
“It was challenging finding people with passion for great food and fantastic service out of London, who not only had the savoir faire we require but also had the vision to join a small restaurant group that not too many people had heard of.”
Côte are renowned for their training and development with the vast majority of their senior management team having grown up through their ranks.
“It has been really rewarding watching people grow within the group. People who absorb our culture and who understand the Côte way, bringing their skill and passion to work every day and watching them getting rewarded for it is immense.”
50 restaurants and growing
Now with nearly 50 restaurants in the group and Richard Caring (who provided the original equity behind Côte) recently selling his shares, what future does Scott envisage for the business?
“Business as usual. The whole senior operations team are as committed to growing our reputation and the business as a whole as we ever were. We have about a dozen sites we are currently working on at the moment and I wouldn’t be surprised if we open as many as 17 restaurants in this financial year.
Recruiting for succession
“It’s obviously going to be a challenge to maintain our consistency but essentially it’s about strong leadership. It’s also about supplementing our succession plan by recruiting the right calibre of people. People who are capable of continuing the legacy which we are all so proud of.”
People focussed: happy teams, happy guests
Anyone who has been to Côte will not have failed to notice that their teams seem unusually happy in their work, especially when compared to other restaurant operators on the high-street. Looking through their website too, one gets the impression that they are a really people focussed business.
“We are in the business of making people happy and having a team that enjoy their work is an essential part of that. It’s corny but Côte still has a real family feel to it. We want to work with people we like and get on with. Of course business always comes first but if you can have a laugh and communicate as adults it makes the job a lot more enjoyable. It’s a bit dull if everyone has to be super serious all the time!
“One of my GMs recently told me how fantastic it was to finally work for a company who just wanted her to do the job she was paid to do: deliver great food and service without anything else getting in the way. We see the restaurant business in very simple terms. You have hungry people in your care, look after them, feed them and make them happy”.
Industry leading training + career development
Côte provides a working environment that supports people in making the right decisions for the benefit of their guests, and an environment that is equally enjoyable for their employees. They invest in industry leading training for their whole team and offer fantastic opportunities of career development for the high achievers. What further claim could Scott possibly wish to make about his organisation as an employer?
“Our guests love us. It really does make a huge difference to your day when guests genuinely appreciate what you are doing for them, making sure they are having a brighter day because they came to eat in your restaurant!”
Côte is fantastic. The Sunday Times
Côte is what eating out should be about. Evening Standard
Dedication to service, quality of ingredients. London Metro