Project management for new Pontefract Castle Café

Cadaema Consulting Services recently project managed the re-imagining and re-opening of the café at Pontefract Castle.  This involved a desktop commercial modelling exercise for the Museums team of the Arts, Culture & Leisure directorate at Wakefield Council as well as the operational, hands-on project management ahead of the opening of a new café.

Built in the late 11^th Century by Ilbert de Lacy, a friend of William the Conqueror, and known as the Key to the North since the 13^th Century, Pontefact Castle has been the centre of some of English history’s most important events and is a popular tourist attraction.

Cadaema’s brief was to achieve three objectives:

• Create a café that enhanced the visitor experience at the Castle and cement its place as a tourist destination
• Provide a boost to the local economy through employment and the use locally sourced products and suppliers
• Deliver a commercial strategy that blended a price point relevant to the local community whilst not providing a drain on the Council’s finances

“It didn’t need to provide huge profits,” says Cadaema director, David Parrett, “but it couldn’t cost the Council too much either. We needed to determine what that would mean for the pricing strategy, the staffing structure and opening times, and present our findings so the Council team could get approval to commit to the investment needed to re-open the café.”

Cadaema developed a solution specific to the challenges and history of a café at Pontefract Castle. This included a focused menu that allowed the café to open on time and be really clear about what it was trying to achieve and what it would offer the local community, and then to project manage its re-imagining and opening.

 “The timeline was tight, with just three and a half weeks to develop and submit the commercial model to hit our proposed opening date of 1^st August to take advantage of as much of the lucrative summer holiday market as possible,” Parrett continues. “As well as developing the commercial, menu and staffing structure models, we committed to being on-site before, during and after the opening date to make sure that everything was ready on time and set up.”

On behalf of the Council, Cadaema established a supply chain of providers showcasing local organisations selecting Recent Beans to supply coffee and Artisan Bakes for cakes and tray-bakes. It registered the cafe with the Council’s licensing department, created a bespoke set of relevant procedures and policies, supported with recruitment of the café team and delivered a full range of training for the new team, including barista training. A stock-take process for the team to manage costs was put in place, along with testing and inspection of the machines that had been left on site to bring them back to operational life. The counter, displays and flow were defined and the till and cash collection system were set up.

“We also wrote a social media campaign, working with the Council’s team, to advertise the re-opening,” Parrett notes. “We ran a supplier engagement day for Councillors to attend Recent Beans roastery in Wakefield to make their own coffee as part of a PR exercise, and ran a social media-based competition to name the new café – it’s going to be called The Keep and there’s going to be an official opening with Cllr Appleyard in a few weeks’ time.”

The key to all this was, says Parrett, collaboration, collaboration and more collaboration: “Only by being in touch with the Council team twice a week initially, and then being on-site every day for the last week could we stay on top of everything that needed doing…some by us, some by them. d. We worked especially hard with the Council to respond positively to the feedback on social media, which ultimately created even more interest.”

Cadaema provided structured project management and process so all the pre-requisites that were needed were done for other tasks to take place. Through its partner, Cantium Catering Consultancy, Cadaema offered a huge amount of specific guidance around policies, legislation and hands-on set up. The result was that the café opened on time and initial financial feedback is that it is making a small surplus.

Julie Russell, Service Director – Arts, Culture and Leisure at Wakefield Council comments, “What’s impressed us most about Cadaema’s involvement has been their immediate empathy with our objectives. They’ve understood the importance of the café for the local community, and demonstrated a willingness and ability to drive the implementation of the agreed operating model by being on-site throughout the mobilisation process.”

“We are so grateful for the way that Cadaema owned the project and turned it into reality in such a short space of time,” adds Councillor Hannah Appleyard, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Arts, Culture and Leisure.

 “It was a truly collaborative exercise between us, Cantium and the Council team, and a testament to the hard work that all concerned committed,” concludes Parrett. “We’re delighted that the outcome has been so successful.”