Café Manager

Café Manager – Norton's Café

Location: Bickerdikes Garden Centre, Letchworth

Department: Norton's Café

Contract: Full-time, Permanent

Hours: 40 hours per week

Join Our Team

Are you an experienced and enthusiastic hospitality professional looking to take the next step in your career?

Bickerdikes Garden Centre is seeking an exceptional Café Manager to lead Norton's Café – a thriving and popular destination serving freshly prepared breakfasts, lunches, afternoon teas and cakes every day.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Café or Restaurant Manager who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys leading a successful team and is passionate about delivering outstanding customer service. We are looking for someone with energy, attention to detail and the vision to help drive the continued growth and success of our café through excellent leadership and innovative ideas.

About Us

Established in 1998, Bickerdikes Garden Centre is a proudly independent, family-run business with an excellent reputation for quality, service and value. We aim to be the destination of choice for garden enthusiasts while offering an outstanding café experience for our loyal customers.

Our values are built around trust and integrity, family, teamwork, accountability and retail excellence. We believe in supporting our staff, encouraging personal development and creating a welcoming environment where people enjoy coming to work every day.

What We Offer

Free on-site parking

15% staff discount in the Garden Centre

25% staff discount in Norton's Café

28 days' holiday, including Bank Holidays

Retail-style working hours with no evening shifts or split shifts

A guaranteed regular day off each week

Every other weekend off (working a six-day week followed by a four-day week)

The Garden Centre closes from 25th December until 2nd January, giving all staff a well-earned Christmas break

Opportunities for training and development within a supportive family business

Key Responsibilities

As Café General Manager, you will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of Norton's Café, ensuring exceptional customer service, high food standards and strong team performance.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading and managing the front-of-house team on a daily basis
• Maintaining consistently high standards of food quality, presentation and customer service
• Serving customers and ensuring every guest enjoys an excellent experience
• Building strong relationships with customers to encourage repeat visits
• Recruiting, training and developing new team members
• Motivating, mentoring and supporting your team to achieve high performance
• Managing staffing levels, rotas and day-to-day operational requirements
• Liaising with wholesalers and suppliers regarding pricing, ordering and product ranges
• Handling customer enquiries and resolving issues professionally
• Maintaining excellent housekeeping standards throughout the café
• Ensuring full compliance with food hygiene, allergy legislation and Health & Safety regulations
• Supporting the continued growth of the café through new ideas and continuous improvement

Essential Skills & Experience

We are looking for someone who has:

• Previous experience managing a busy café, restaurant or hospitality venue
• Experience leading, motivating and developing a large team
• A passion for delivering exceptional customer service
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong organisational and leadership abilities
• A positive, professional and hands-on approach
• High standards of personal presentation and hygiene
• Flexibility to work retail hospitality hours, including weekends
• Eligibility to work in the UK

Qualifications

The successful candidate should hold, or be willing to obtain, the following qualifications:

Essential:

• Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety in Catering (or equivalent)
• Food Allergy Awareness Training compliant with current UK legislation
• Knowledge and practical experience of Safer Food Better Business (SFBB)
• A sound understanding of current Food Safety and Health & Safety legislation

Desirable:

• IOSH Managing Safely or equivalent Health & Safety qualification

If you're passionate about hospitality, enjoy leading people and want to play a key role in one of Hertfordshire's busiest independent garden centre cafés, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply today with your CV and a covering letter to Mark Bickerdike telling us why you would be the perfect fit for Norton's Café at Bickerdikes Garden Centre.