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Danny Valentine runs two of Christchurch’s trendiest restaurants – Retropolitan Social Club and Gas Monkey.
Retropolitan Social Club is a cosy 1970s inspired 60-seater restaurant, bar & café in Addington. The menu includes updated throwbacks such as the prawn cocktail, cheese fondue and Nana’s meatloaf. Conversely, Gas Monkey is a Tex-Mex American grill, serving delicious tacos, ribs, and its famous burgers to hungry punters in Shirley.
Having used goRoster for the last two years, Danny says the system is much more applicable to the hospitality industry than the one he was using previously. “With the old software, we were always saying, ‘I wish it could do this or that.’ Now with goRoster, we get all the features we wanted and more.”
Keeping an eye on wage costs
goRoster has become an integral part of how Danny manages wage costs across both businesses. “Staff wages are our largest cost, so it’s great we have goRoster to help us keep a close eye on them.”
Danny and his team can see, on a daily basis, how staff costs compare to their estimated turnover. “We like to think that we’ve got seven chances a week to be successful with getting our budgets right, and goRoster provides a great platform to help with this.”
The man with a plan
Every day in hospitality can be different, which is why Danny relies on goRoster to plan ahead. It allows him and his team to make notes on how seasonal conditions, events around the area or special offers have affected business during specific periods.
“We use previous rosters to plan ahead for similar periods. We know how many staff we will need, what meals were popular and what our expected revenue will be – so we’re never in the dark,” Danny says.
Two sites, one system
goRoster makes it easy for Danny to manage his 25 staff across both restaurants. With one login, he can see who is working at which site, and if there are any gaps that need filling. “If someone is unable to work for any reason, it’s really simple to share staff across the two sites to handle that shortfall.”
Danny says that goRoster has also made it easy to communicate with his staff at the push of a button. “We send out rosters to staff via text or email, so we can be certain that they all know when and where they are working. It has certainly saved a lot of hassle.”