A part-time job while still at school introduced Matthew McIlwaine to the benefits of working in the hospitality sector.
Here’s how he became Restaurant Manager at EDO Belfast
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
It all began back at the age of 16 working in my small local pub and restaurant every weekend, this continued through my time at school. Fast forward a couple of indecisive years and career choices, I then decided to move to Belfast. Prior to moving as a student, the hospitality industry presented itself as one of the few jobs that would be flexible enough to provide me with enough hours and the income that I needed to make my move sustainable. I began working for Deane’s restaurant group on my first day in Belfast. After my first year with the group I was moved down to a position in the Michelin star restaurant EIPIC, this would be a position that over the year truly shaped my opinion of the industry. During one of the restaurant’s set closures I volunteered a helping hand at another restaurant in the group, following which I was offered a full-time position as assistant manager.
I took on the role and spent around a year and a half in the position. With the role came some creative flexibility and I decided to spend a lot of my time improving the restaurant’s drink offerings and my knowledge behind the bar, eventually this lead to a decision to take a step back from the pressures and time commitments of management there and move to EDO to spend some time developing these skills further. Within a month I was then offered a very flexible assistant manager position and a few months after that the restaurant manager position opened and I couldn’t say no.
What was your favourite subject at school?
It had to be music, although my teacher might have disagreed with me on that as I certainly enjoyed the practical side of it more than the theory and history!
Did you go on to further/ higher education, if so what did you study and where?
I moved to Belfast around 4-5 years ago to pursue a qualification in music technology, essentially it’s the equipment, event and business sides of music. I had taken on a two-year course at Belfast Met at the time.
How did you get into your area of work?
It was a very flexible role that provided me an opportunity to earn whilst learning at a very young age.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
After my early years in the industry at my local pub and restaurant I swore that I would never work in another restaurant again. When I had first moved to Belfast I was still convinced that it was just a way to pay the bills, it’s not something that you get encouraged to pursue during education and with so much pressure at the time from my peers studying actuarial sciences, finances, master’s degrees and the like it was certainly off putting. It was only upon reflecting on my time at EIPIC did I set all those external pressures aside and realise that it certainly is a viable career path. I started to fully embrace the role I was in and it completely shaped my perspective of the industry and I quickly realised that the more that I put into the industry the greater the mental reward.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
With such a high demand and staff turnover in the industry at the time of my first jobs, qualifications were not so much of a requirement however customer service experience was, and will always be, preferred.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
Some restaurants in recent years have offered apprenticeship schemes partly funded by the government and I believe that this will become a more frequent path into the industry in the future. As the country continues to put its stamp on the map as a great food destination the government will really need to push funding into the grass roots to ensure that the demand doesn’t exceed the staff available for these venues to operate.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
Being a restaurant manager can be quite demanding on a wide range of skillsets however I believe the main key skills are adaptability, leadership, customer service, product knowledge, marketing and financial planning.
What does a typical day entail?
There are genuinely no two days the same! However, each day begins with a typical two-hour window in the morning to get the restaurant clean/set up and ready for a day’s service. It’s also the small window of time when there are no customers in the building allowing me to focus on the usual office duties. Lunch begins at 12 noon, I then usually take a two-hour break between 3-5pm or depending on the day’s workload this could be the final productive window to catch up on any missed tasks. Then it’s on to the evening service from 5pm where the focus is entirely on the customers, the average typical day then ends around 12am.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of being Restaurant Manager at EDO?
The most challenging aspect is wearing multiple caps; one minute you’re focusing on the financials of the business the next minute you could be the company’s HR department or trying to boost the business’ social media presence.
Why is what you do important?
Very few go out to eat in a restaurant without an occasion. It could be a business meeting, a first date, an anniversary, the first night off from the kids or even if it’s just getting together with the family for a day of shopping it’s invaluable time with their loved ones. It’s important that the standards I set and environment I create accommodates all these moments or enhances them to ensure they are as memorable as possible.
Although we are only one of the many restaurants in Belfast it’s important that we continue to develop and grow our customer experience as collectively we have a major impact on the city’s tourism and city centre economy.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
I would advise them to move around in the industry whilst they can, there is something completely different to learn from every restaurant and if you ever feel you are stagnant and not developing yourself then it’s time to move on.
If you could go back, what is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
There’s not one problem or issue that can’t be fixed with a free glass of wine!
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