Simon Warr joined Chestnut this month as the group’s first Training & People Development Manager, bringing with him a wealth of operational and management experience across some of the best hotels and restaurants in the country, including the last eight years at Daniel Clifford’s 2 Michelin star Midsummer House.
Simon (pictured above on the left) will be based at The Rupert Brooke in Grantchester but will also be supporting the management at The Packhorse Inn in Moulton, near Newmarket, with on-site training and development. Simon will also be a part of the Chestnut project team for any openings, putting staff training at the forefront of all new developments.
Exciting stage of development
Simon is excited about the new role as the group’s very first portfolio manager: “I am extremely excited to have joined The Chestnut Group. There is already a group of highly passionate people in place that share my values of what great dining is about. Hopefully I can help to build on what they have achieved to date.
“The Chestnut Group gives me the platform to train, motivate and inspire others and help younger members of the team, some of which will be new to the industry. I was attracted to Chestnut because it is at such an exciting stage in its development; still very new but with a solid base and lots of energy. I also admire the fact that the group has prioritised people and training and given me the opportunity to make a long lasting contribution to the future of the business.”
Key asset; key investment
Owner Philip Turner is equally philosophical: “People are our key asset and therefore need to be our key investment. No matter how good the concept, product or the marketing is, a customer’s good will is won or lost on the actual experience and this is almost exclusively down to how they are made to feel by the people they meet and by whom they are looked after. We have grown very quickly and we haven’t always got it right. Far from being “unskilled” jobs, the front of house roles make or break a business. With Simon’s experience and enthusiasm, we aim to ensure that every member of the Chestnut team has the training and support required so that every time a customer visits a Chestnut site, they can expect the same great experience.”
About The Chestnut Group
The Chestnut Group was established in May 2012 by former banker and corporate financier Philip Turner, with the vision to create a family of hostelries under the Chestnut umbrella, which defy pigeon-holing into the standard classifications of pub, hotel or restaurant, but is simply synonymous with a great experience. Key to its development strategy is identifying freehold sites in the region, which as a result of under capital investment, are not delivering their full potential.
Chestnut’s’ first site, The Packhorse Inn near Newmarket, opened October 2013. The second, The Rupert Brooke in Grantchester, was ready for business October 2014.
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