Ruth Bolton helping deliver great quality and great taste to hospitality and tourism businesses
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ICYMI

8/1/2018

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In Case You Missed It - social media is not just a way to communicate with your friends but necessary to target and market directly to those you want to reach. Top platforms are Facebook (the place to go to chat and be friendly, keep the tone light and informal), Twitter (interactive dialogue and communication, nurture, engage and build your following, retweet and answer questions when possible), Instagram (creative and collaborative with the chance to create stories and expand your reach using hashtags), Pinterest (female centric and image based, develop your own personality with eye catching, unique pinboards, great for recipe boards) and YouTube (create useful and instructive 'how to' videos as well as capturing attention), Google owns YouTube so is routinely ranked highly on Google search page. So what are you waiting for?
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Wild Suffolk at Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival

30/9/2017

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We had an a really interesting debate about foraging last weekend at the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. I was invited to sit on the panel for a Food Writers Question Time where the conversation got very lively. I loved the question from the student in the audience who wanted to know how to prepare a pigeon captured in the garden of his student accommodation.
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Great Customer Service

9/8/2017

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Cafes and Restaurants don't just sell food and drink they provide a sense of belonging and recognition. Customer service is as equally important as the food. Friendly staff make happy staff. Well trained staff make customers happy. My top tips for excellent customer service are.
  • Train staff to speak with respect and courtesy, using appropriate titles. (Madam, Sir, Mr...)
  • Ensure staff see, smile and say hello at the first opportunity. Three smiles before the customer arrives at the service counter.
  • Listen! Be aware at all times and ready for the unexpected.
  • Be positive and patient, act gracefully.
  • Serve with heart and hospitality.
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Recommendations

12/7/2017

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It's always good to get published in a cookbook! I have lots of local food knowledge and contacts in the food world if you need recommendations
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Visitor Attractions

5/6/2017

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What a great way to spend summer, visiting some of the brilliant visitor attractions in the East of England. As a trained freelance assessor I will test everything before I go including the website, promotional material, social media streams and leaflets. Then there is the visit itself where I mingle with the other visitors and assess every facet of the attraction, interacting with all members of staff, testing the cafe, shop, experiencing the whole visitor journey. Once I have made myself known at the end of the visit, there is the detailed feedback and debrief, followed by a written report, including any recommendations that I feel are relevant.  All areas must meet the high standard required to be awarded VisitEngland's Quality Rose Marque. I love my job!
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Free business tools and resources!

20/3/2017

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The Prince's Trust helps get young people into work. Their Enterprise programme helps turn big ideas into business reality for 18 - 30 year olds.  The site is well worth a visit and has some great templates, business tools and resources to download whether you plan to apply for their help or not.
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Managing online reviews

15/1/2017

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Online reputation matters so try to stay at the top of the rankings. Don't ignore TripAdvisor it has over 50 million monthly visitors worldwide!
  • Ask your guests to review your business and maintain a high presence on social media and booking sites.
  • Make it easy for customers to write a review by either providing a clickable link in a thank you email or displaying a TripAdvisor badge.
  • Respond to reviews - it shows that you are listening and sets expectations for future guests.
  • Don't go overboard with your responses, it can be off putting.
  • Always respond to negative, damaging or confusing reviews.
  • Occasionally respond to positive reviews. Don't be repetitive.
  • Reassure - thank, apologise if necessary and let the reviewer know how you are following up.
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Assessing

1/9/2016

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It's not always about fine dining. It's really important to be able to assess "quality in context". Recently I have been working on the Motorway Services, assessing quality in service stations for VisitEngland. This includes the forecourts and service areas. It might mean buying more than my fair share of McDonalds, KFC, Harry Ramsdens or burgers like this. And always a newspaper from WHSmith and a yoghurt from M&S or Waitrose (to see if I get offered a spoon)
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G.O.T.B.O

20/6/2016

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A glimpse of the blinding obvious 
Understanding services from a customers point of view is so important. What is blindingly obvious to a customer isn't always so obvious to a business owner. So you need to step back and take a good look at yourself sometimes and listen to your customers! Or consider a mystery guest visit to get some really valuable feedback about your business.

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Time for Lunch

28/3/2016

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Suffolk County Council approached me to create a short five week cookery course teaching young, vulnerable, single parents to cook. Each week while the children were entertained in the creche the parents created a delicious, healthy and simple lunch to sit and eat together with their children at the end of the session. We covered basic cookery skills and worked within a set budget. When I asked for feedback at the end of the course the favourite lunch proved to be "Let's cook a Chinese Takeaway"  Not only nicer than the local takeaway but also about a quarter of the price!
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Networking

18/3/2016

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I always try and keep up to date with what's going on in the food and drink world, especially what is happening in East Anglia. So today I'm off to Menta's Food and Drink Seminar at The Cookhouse. Suffolk Food Hall.
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Pop up cafe

18/10/2015

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Just to keep my hand in and because I love to keep involved in running a food enterprise I am currently setting up my Christmas Pop Up Cafe at Blackthorpe Barn in Rougham. It seems a little early to be thinking about Christmas. I'd be delighted to help you set up a pop up cafe!
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Suffolk Food and Drink Awards

14/5/2015

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I was delighted to be asked back this year to join the judging panel for the Suffolk Food and Drink Awards.  It is always good to work with the Suffolk Magazine. The judges, who all work within the food industry had some difficult decisions to make.  I was judging the Customer Service Award. My winner was Turners Fish. The father and son run a mobile fish van sell fresh fish from Lowestoft at various locations in the county.  Runners up were The Lighthouse Restaurant in Aldeburgh and The Copper Kettle at Kersey Mill. All are well worth a visit.
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Eating Out in The Broads

4/3/2015

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Today saw the launch of the Eating Out in the Broads guide. I visited and assessed (with a little help) most of the eating establishment situated within the Broads Authority. The launch took place at one of my favourite hotels. The Norfolk Mead Hotel in Coltishall.
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An  Inspector  Calls ...The Figures

18/12/2014

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For those of you that think I have a dream job. Here are the figures. In the last two months I have dined out on more than 60 occasions. I ate belly of pork 6 times, 8 curries, 8 fish pies, a handmade burger on 9 occasions, endless sausage rolls and cheese scones. Not to mention the 4 lemon possets, 5 slices of cheesecake, apple crumbles and cheeseboards. I think I added it up to 67,680 calories. No wonder my trousers are tight!
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  • About Ruth
  • Projects and Inspiration
  • My Blog - suffolkfoodie
  • Get in touch