Can you afford not to improve your hotel, club or restaurant?

The most successful businesses see tough times as a chance to build an edge on their competition. Through making your overall business more attractive and efficient is probably the best investment you can make in the current market. The more attractive you can make your venue to the your demographic, the more customers, the more staff and even a prospective buyer will value your business.

A famous artist once told me “Sculpture is easy, all you do is take a block of stone and chip away the pieces you don’t want”. While this is an oversimplification of what it takes to end up with a masterpiece, with the right sculptor the job is easy. Like the sculptor you need a company that understands the whole process, not just the building, to make your business into a masterpiece of success and maximise your return on investment. The risk everyone in the industry faces is that when the market is down you need to get a bigger share of the market to keep up with rising costs and retain more profits. Then when the market returns your business will be better than your competition and make for a stronger business.

This leaves the venues who have sat on the hands wondering where their business has gone. Most D&C companies start out as builders and employ an architect to design a building. This may give you an attractive building, but it won’t help you identify your customers and market or even provide a building that will be efficient to operate as profitably as it should. Understanding what it really takes to develop a successful business, we combine strong all-round skills, of marketing, retail management, space planning, interior and graphic design, hospitality management and workflow, project management, fit-out and construction.

If you would like some advice on how to the potential and area for improvements of your venue, feel free to give us a call. Obligations free, happy to chat anytime.

Hot Concepts Australia launches Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for Gaming Rooms

Do you need to protection for your gaming rooms and machines?

Hot Concepts have been making privacy screens for gaming rooms since 2000.

Hot Concepts Gaming Screens, designed to provide privacy to gaming patrons and give and extra feeling of safety. The Hot Concepts Gaming Screens are constructed from varying option of smoked or moulded acrylic and can easily be mounted between any EGM or banks of machines. These and other distancing measures are about look after the safety of your staff and customers.

The current restrictions have been eased but there will remain concerns from some customers over their safety. Perceptions are everything and if your customers feel safer in your gaming room, it will bounce back faster.

Hot Concepts also offer full height room dividers which can help separate and delineate areas within a venue and provide extra privacy and safety. Manufactured in Brisbane you can be assured of contactless, hygienic and fast delivery.

Contact us on 07 3277 7740 or email sayhello@hotconcepts.com.au for any questions or a free quote.

MAKING THE MOST OF SHUTDOWN

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We are all counting down the days until this virus has been contained and it is safe for hotels, pubs and bars to open again. The enforced shutdown has had an unprecedented impact on the hospitality industry, but many of the hoteliers I know are still hard at work trying to make the most of this difficult period. In that spirit, here are a few things that you can do during the shutdown so that you are ready to go, all guns blazing, the moment your doors reopen.
  1. START PLANNING A REOPENING EVENT

Why not add to the celebration and cheer when the restrictions are lifted by throwing a reopening event? We all know successful events take plenty of time and thought, so what better time to start planning than right now?

Just remember to follow the usual rules around liquor promotions. In particular, you must not advertise any of the following outside of your venue:

  • “two for one” deals and similar promotions;
  • the sale price of liquor for consumption on the premises; or
  • “happy hour” or other promotions offering discounted drinks.

 

  1. RENOVATE OR REFURBISH

Many hoteliers are using this time to renovate their premises without any interruption to their business. If you want to do likewise, remember that you may need:

  • building approval from your local council, depending on the nature of the works;
  • OLGR approval if you are increasing or decreasing the size of your licensed area. Note, OLGR is waiving the normal application fees for such applications until 31 July 2020;
  • OLGR approval if rebuilding or conducting major renovations to your licensed area, such as knocking down a wall within a licensed area or other works exceeding $50,000 in value. The usual application fees still apply to these applications;
  • OLGR approval if relocating a licensed gaming area to a different part of your venue;
  • to engage a Licensed Monitoring Operator (LMO) if you need to turn off your gaming machines to complete the works; and
  • to obtain a new acoustics report if you are renovating an area where there will be amplified entertainment.

 

  1. UPDATE THE CONFIGURATION OF YOUR VENUE

Once the ban is lifted, you will probably still need to promote the ‘1.5 metre social distancing rule’ and venues may be restricted to a maximum of one person per four square metres. Other measures have also been mooted, such as that venues should be sit-down only to stop patrons infringing the 1.5 metre rule when queuing at bars.

How would this work at your venue? Can you reposition furniture to keep patrons 1.5 metres apart?  Should you seek OLGR approval to increase the size of your licensed area, such as by adding an outdoor area to accommodate more patrons?

 

  1. REVIEW AND UPDATE OPERATIONS MANUALS AND OTHER POLICY DOCUMENTS

We are currently being forced to rethink the way that we approach our work, and many of the changes we have been implementing may be worth retaining once things return to normal. What new hygiene practices have you put in place; what efficiencies have you developed while working remotely; and how can you incorporate these processes into your post-pandemic operation? This is the ideal time to ask your staff for their feedback and to update your operations manual accordingly.

You might also take this opportunity to review other operations documents such as your risk-assessed management plan (RAMP), staff training manuals and responsible gaming policies, and to update legal documents such as staff letters of engagement and your standard venue hire or function agreements.

 

  1. REVIEW YOUR CUSTOMER DATABASES

Now is as good a time as any to ensure your customer databases are up to date. Remember also that if your turnover exceeds $3 million per annum, you must comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act and the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme by ensuring customers’ personal information is kept securely and that you have policies and procedures in place to minimise the risk of data breaches. If you have questions on this topic, please refer to my article titled How to protect your customers’ privacy in the digital age.

 

  1. REVIEW LEASES AND SUPPLY AGREEMENTS

At time of writing, we are still waiting for the state governments to fully legislate the Commercial Tenancy Mandatory Code of Conduct that has been announced by the National Cabinet.  However, that should not stop you from opening the discussion with your landlord about rent relief while your venues are closed. Likewise, many clients are contacting us to review their supply agreements and to understand their rights to renegotiate with your suppliers.

 

  1. FORGE NEW CONNECTIONS AND SOLIDIFY EXISTING ONES

This is a great time to acquaint (or reacquaint) yourself with the local Member of Parliament, city councillor and the local police station. A meeting in person may not be practical, but a simple phone call or even a Zoom conference can help lay a platform for you to work with other people into the future.

Likewise, don’t forget to stay in touch with other contacts – particularly staff who you may no longer see on a daily basis. I am finding that phone calls, and particularly video calls by Skype, Facetime and Zoom, are appreciated by many of those who may be struggling with isolation.

This shutdown may be preventing business as usual, but that is not to say that the hard work has stopped completely. I wish you all the very best in weathering the current storm – and look forward to joining you for a drink, in your venues, when we come out the other side. If you would like to discuss how your venue can maximise this shutdown period, please do not hesitate to call me on 07 3277 7770.

 

Article written by Curt Schatz (Managing Partner) and Glen Rolley (Associate). https://www.mullinslawyers.com.au/

COVID-19 and the New Normal

This is a very challenging time for all businesses across Australia with unprecedented times ahead of us. At Hot Concepts, the safety and wellbeing of our team, clients and suppliers are our highest priority. We have taken on every recommendation from our Health Department, so we can continue working throughout 2020 in a safe, hygienic and distanced manner.

Our team is continuously evolving our work practices, so we can prove great service to our clients, along with updating our WHS plan to include COVID-19 planning and management.

To ensure we mitigate the risk of impact to operations, we have: 

• implemented COVID-19 response plans internally and on all current projects.
• postponed non-essential meetings and events with clients, consultants and suppliers.
• teams to work from alternate locations⁠.
• informed our office and site teams of preventative hygiene and social distancing best practice⁠.

We are taking action and following the advice provided by the Australian Government’s Department of Health and DAFT’s Smart Traveller service.

Our team will continue to be accessible and ready to assist you with any challenges that COVID-19 presents. If you have any further queries or wish to discuss our approach, please feel free to contact us with any questions on 07 3277 7740 or sayhello@hotconcepts.com.au 

Please stay safe, as we work together in getting our country back on its feet.

 

 

QHA Awards ~ Carrollee Hotel Wins Best Reno!

We were honoured to attend the QHA Awards for Excellence last week with the Carrollee Hotel, who was nominated for Best Redevelopment Licensed Premises Up To $2m, and they won! A lot of planning and hard work went into completing the heritage renovation. Along the way we experienced all the challenges of restoring a 115 year old hotel, and finished a complete renovation in 6 months.

More than 1200 hoteliers, partners and supporters of the Queensland hotel industry joined together to celebrate the very best of Queensland’s Hotel and Accommodation industry.

Congratulations to all of the winners, and thanks for the awesome night Queensland Hotels Association.

Before & After ~ Carrollee Hotel ~ Kingaroy, Queensland

The Carrollee Hotel was first built in 1904 by the Carroll family, is a grand two-story building with a federation style construction, typical of the regional hotels offering accommodation upstairs. Despite the original hotel being destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt in 1913 and many of those original features still remain today.

The last renovations were carried out in the 1980s and were a traditional layout with separate bar, bistro, office, gaming room and beer garden on the ground floor.

The first exercise was to identify which demographics to focus on. This followed a survey of all the other competition in town and identifying where we wanted to focus our business, which lead to the final design concept, layout and service. We were engaged to design and upgrade the hotel who also offer advice on identifying the market.

Bearing in mind the age of the building and the obvious heritage features of the building, the exterior was designed in sympathy with the charm of the original architecture.

To improve the flow of the building, the office was moved to the first floor, by removing the walls we created a lounge area in its place. The design also included removing the walls between the lounge, public bar and bistro, the gaming was also extended by removing the wall between the existing gaming room and a small function room, which was underutilised. By opening up the venue, the new design created an improved flow throughout. This also has made it more efficient for the staff to service all areas. All the lighting was replaced with low energy LED lighting.

As part of the realigning the hotel service to what we believe the market expected, the design of the bistro included bi-fold doors to the full width of the entrance, creating a café area between the two main bars and banquette seating to the opposite wall. This was highlighted by wide blackbutt flooring and totally redesigned bars and furniture.

As there were doors between each area of the hotel, removing all the doors and walls has made it easier for our staff to provide service to all customers. By opening up the foyer, creating the lounge area and designing a new cashier counter, the gaming room is no longer separated from the rest of the hotel.

The beer garden roof was lined with natural timber finish and insulated, plus the installation of new café curtains has created better comfort for the patrons from the cold in winter and the hot summers. Kingaroy experiences the extremes of temperate.

As the hotel is over 100 years old, with some non-compliant modifications, we discovered many structural and electrical issues which had to be re-engineered, rectified and certified.

They have already seen a dramatic improvement in business. In the first three weeks after re-opening, revenue increased 40-50% in all areas.

Not only do they have the best hotel in Kingaroy, but the best in the area. Congratulations for having the vision of restoring a great hotel.

Shanghai Kitchen

Design renders from a previous job, of a small Shanghai themed restaurant.

2019 AHG EXPO – Are you coming?

We are excited to be part of the hospitality and gaming industry’s biggest trade event of the year – the Keno Australasian Hospitality and Gaming (AHG) Expo – when it returns to the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on March 27-28, 2019.

Expo visitors will find more than 200 stands showcasing innovations in entertainment, technology, gaming products, construction, education, furniture and more. On the back of a successful launch in 2018, the AHG Tastes precinct will also grow from 55 to 75+ stands, focussing wholly and solely on food-related industry exhibitors.

As per usual, Expo visitors can extend on their Expo experience by taking in the various additional educational and/or networking opportunities on offer during AHG Expo week. Again in 2019, there’s the National Governance & Management Congress with keynote speeches from some of our industry’s thought leaders, hosted ‘Party Bus’ tours across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, a cocktail party and more.

For more on the 2019 AHG Expo and those key events in Expo week, or to register to attend the expo, visit www.ahgexpo.com – we hope to see you at our stand 101!

What your customers want from your next renovation

by Sam Elliott.

This article by Sam Elliott resonates with us, as we’ve spent the past 20 years renovating hotels, bars, restaurants and clubs. While the director, Ken Ross, has been in the hotel industry for 40 years …

Soft renovations (new finishes, carpet, paint, lights, wall treatments, etc.) are an essential part of keeping your venue looking modern, fresh and appealing to your patrons. Whilst major renovations may only be affordable every 5-6 years, venues should be engaging in soft refurbishments in different outlets almost constantly to maintain relevance.

But are your renovations on trend and being completed in the most effective manner in terms of cost, quality and suiting your clientele? Researching your market and patrons is the most beneficial way to get the most out of your renovations. But where to start?

A venue wishing to make well-informed decisions based on fact, rather than on the basis of ‘I reckon’ or just to the ‘same old’, may wish to ask these three questions as a foundation of their background research.

  1. What does your market look like?

More often than not, renovations are completed as a “catch up” to the standard of a local competitor. Knowing your market well and what your competitors are offering can assist in getting ahead of the game and positioning your venue as the market leader rather than following the local trend. Remember your competitors are not just other clubs, it is the local Hotel, pub or other family entertainment centre. It’s also important in the decision-making process to not saturate the market with a similar offer, giving the opportunity to position your venue as a unique offering with a competitive edge in the market. Don’t limit yourself to just local competitors, branch out to the best bars in the state, or why stop there? If your bar is looking tired and you are looking for inspiration, I would always suggest going to venues that are doing it well. Take ideas from clubs, pubs, cafés, restaurants and boutique bars and determine if the things that make them a stand out would work in your venue. But equally important is to look at venues that aren’t performing well, ask the question why aren’t they performing and ensure not to make a similar mistake in your renovations.

  1. What do your patrons say?

Focus groups and surveys of your patrons offer great insights into what your consumer market considers as the most valued areas of the venue. However, the best results come from asking the right questions. A patron survey would hope to gain insights to not only the various demographic profiles of your patrons but also their psychographic behaviours, where the most popular areas of your venue are and what needs immediate attention, what is the general spend per visit and in each area, visitation frequency of your patrons and what it would take to increase their visitation to your venue rather than your competitors. The right questions asked appropriately provide valued feedback from a large percentage of your patronage, however, valued feedback can also be a result of focus groups. While not as large scale, focus groups serve as a free-flowing forum that generates ideas that are sometimes outside the box which, at a management/board level, had not been previously considered.

  1. Does the proposed renovation suit your future market and patrons?

What does your local market look like now and what will it look like in 5 or 10 years time? A renovation is not a small process to go through and understanding the market forecasts and predictions will have significant influence in the decision-making process. Understanding the emerging markets in your area can greatly assist in the future direction of your venue, sometimes changing the priorities of any planned renovations.

The greatest value of conducting this research is the process of bringing it all together, making sense of the information and applying this knowledge to your venue which allows for a more informed decision to benefit your patrons and the future of your venue. The team at DWS can assist in providing insights into gaming and food and beverage trends offering you a sound understanding of current and future developments that will make your decision-making process that much easier.

3D Design Concepts for a Country Hotel Renovation

We started life as designers & interior architects, however throughout the years of projects not being finished well, we expanded into having a project management and construction teams. This way we can see our clients vision through to the end. The surprising bonus, is this process is cheaper and quicker than alternative of employing architects, engineers, plumbing, electrical, project mangers and a building company. Employing one company, instead of 6 is also more efficient on our clients time.

That said, we often work on building only projects too. While we have over 20 years experience in the hospitality & retail industries, our construction team exists to help bring businesses and spaces to life. Uniquely, we have the capabilities to combine planning, interior & exterior design, custom manufacturing, project management and construction to deliver practical, end-to-end solution. Our hotel and club industry experience means our services are based on an understanding of real world success, and deliver a better quality service that works for both the client, the venue and the customers.We finish our fitouts to highest standards, and take full responsibility and cover on all of our projects.

The following are few renders for a country hotel renovation, that will be completed this financial year.