Spring has sprung, but for The Grosvenor general manager Charlotte Herd, her focus is on looking ahead to the busy season summer will bring.
Ms Herd said service was starting to pick up, but they had not yet had any tour groups booked in.
‘‘Thankfully we haven’t had any, because I don’t think we could handle it at the moment.’’
They were looking forward to the summer, but there was the dread of not having the staff to cope with the summer period.
Like other businesses, staffing had been an issue, which Ms Herd put down to new immigration laws.
‘‘Staffing has been an issue, especially getting chefs as a majority of our chefs were international, and unless you are prepared to pay a phenomenal amount of money for someone who can only stay two to three years in the country, trying to get people has been difficult.’’
Ms Herd said the government kept back-tracking and changing the rules and they, asbusiness owners, were feeling extremely mucked around.
‘‘We just need something set so you know where you stand. Some clarity would definitely be a help,’’ she said.
The Grosvenor had not been advertising for Christmas functions as it did not know how many chefs it would have atthat time.
‘‘A lot of local chefs expect hours from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, but hospitality hours don’t work like that.’’
Sometimes customers forgot they were in the same situation as every other industry, she said.
‘‘Ninety percent of the customers have been understanding, but sometimes there is some sacrifice to the service we provide.’’
