2.1 Overview
Bloomsbury Coffeehouse café is located in London, UK. It is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by TripAdvisor users and visitors (Chen, 2017). It provides people with 26 types of coffees and teas out of 1,213 in London. Talking about the location, it is located at 20 Tailstock Place, London WC1H 9RE, England, near UCL Institute of Education and in front of Leo Wing Chun Chinese Kung Fu Russel Square (Renard, 1999). The café is located straight from Herbrand Street and then to the right toward Tavistock Place, underneath the St Athan’s Hotel.
The coffee house remains open from 8 am to 6 pm during the weekdays. However, timings are different on weekends, as it opens at 1:30 pm on weekends and bank holidays. Brunch timings at the café are 11 am during the week and 1:30 pm on weekends and bank holidays (Ates et al., 2014). The café offers daily cinnamon buns at 8:30 am along with extensive brunches and daily menu updates. Outside the area, there is a sitting place where a couple can enjoy fine and fresh weather. Free Wi-Fi and plenty of sockets are available for the customers. The Timeout Love City Awards for the year 2018 include a nomination for Bloomsbury café. The company wants people to vote for it (Boyer et al., 2002). The café is listed as one of the best cafés in which to bring a laptop, connect to the free Wi-Fi, and get work done along with a smooth coffee. The café has a huge number of plugs with decent music and amazing coffee. The food provided by the café is homemade. The Bloomsbury Coffeehouse has gained attention (Heathcote, 2004).
I think the café is providing people with homemade and hygienic foodstuff. A large number of coffee chains are running in the UK, including Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Café Nero, and many others, but people have other options, too. Competing with these international chains, Bloomsbury Coffee Shop is providing its best services to people. As the coffee house offers great taste and a sharing ethos, customers become involved in the friendly and decent environment of the coffee shop. The architecture of the café is great, as it has designer furniture and settings (Arnot et al., 2006). Celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss, Madonna, and many others have visited it many times. The coffee shop has an atmosphere of casual standards and elegance. The coffee bar contains many other smoothies and drinks, and even if someone does not want to eat anything, they can simply drink whatever they like. The bar portion has lighting, and it is always busy with the crowd (Heizer, 2016).
The café does not have a huge floor area. However, the outside sitting area is quite broad. The staff members include a general manager, assistant manager, supervisor, and bar manager. There is also a head waiter, along with 8 waiters and 2 waitresses for the bar. The kitchen consists of a variety of chefs for the respective types of food and drink. There are 3-4 senior chefs and a head chef with 2 assistant chefs. One cleaner for the kitchen is hired by the café management (Pijlman et al., 2005).
2.2 Analysis Of Operational Challenges
All companies work to make their operational strategies real by applying resources such as knowledge, time, and equipment and by transforming ideas into services and products. The Bloomsbury coffee shop also transforms its ideas into services by creating its operational model known as the 4 V’s. These are variety, volume, variation, and visibility.
2.3 Volume
The Bloomsbury coffee shop is a small café designed with elegant interiors and furniture. However, it has a capacity of approximately 150-180 persons at a time. The shop can accommodate approximately 500-600 coffee orders. Operational key volume suggests its business organization and working methods.
After conducting an interview, the reporters found that waiters are always busy providing the best service to customers. Waiters first take orders from customers and then take them to the kitchen. The kitchen procedure starts after the orders are taken. The waiters are involved in overall service by providing good-tasting and clean food. The staff of Bloomsbury Coffee Shop is highly educated and skilled.
2.4 Variety
After looking at the menu, it is understood that the coffee shop has a huge variety of drinks, coffees, muffins, buns, and homemade sandwiches, with some fast-food variety. The menu consists of different fast-food dishes with 9-10 types of smoothies and drinks. Every sort of coffee is included in the menu, along with iced tea. An extensive brunch menu is available for each day. The price is very economical for students, as it ranges from 10 pounds to 100 pounds for different dishes (Gupta, 2004).
The bar menu consists of different varieties of drinks such as mocktails, mojitos, smoothies (berry and vanilla), and freak shakes, and the price range starts from 3 pounds. Crispy snacks and sandwiches are also present on the menu, along with tempuras, fish tenders, prawns, sushi, and whatever the guests require (Bradely, 2015).
Sometimes, negative feedback is also seen on TripAdvisor. People mostly want healthy food, and they want beef cutlets and beef tataki. Although the company has a high variety of food, a single negative comment can let down the business and delivery orders by increasing customer dissatisfaction (Gupta, 2004).
2.5 Variation
Visits to coffee shops are seasonal. Customers visit a coffee shop in winter, such as from November to February. During the summer days, the coffee shop is often closed, and a shortfall in customers is seen. A rise or fall in customer visits is seen according to seasonal conditions. A local customer may visit the shop daily or perhaps three to four times a day. However, London is one of the most visited cities in the world, and foreigners are attracted to the café’s great interior and smart look. Customer satisfaction is related to loyalty, so variation differs across seasons (Bartlett, 2005).
2.6 Visibility
Bloomsbury Coffee Shop is a high-visibility restaurant because customers are able to see the live bar and coffee making. The kitchen is located just to the right of the bar, and a wooden wall separates the two portions (Soysa et al., 2015). Between production and consumption, there is a time lag. Some coffee shops work slowly and prepare orders for customers very late. Customers keep waiting for their orders, and due to the high visibility of the coffee shop, it is costly for the coffee shop to maintain operations. As visibility is high, the costs, skills, unit contents, and productivity requirements are high. The brand name is well known for its customer service and production (Hoffeins, 2005).
2.7 Customer Objectives And Expectations
To achieve the strategy of the company, organizations are required to identify operational performance objectives. The respective strategies are used to understand the performance of the company. The following performance objectives argued by journals include speed, quality, dependability, and cost (Slater et al., 2015).
Quality
Quality is the measure of providing the right food item according to the tastes of customers. It does not mean being expensive. The ability to meet the demands and needs of the customer and to be fit for purpose and requirements determines the quality of products, goods, and services (Kümin et al., 2017).
Customer expectation
- The quality of food must be high.
- Service of food
- Brand image
- The environment must be nice
Performance against objective
The Bloomsbury coffee shop has a strong brand image, and due to its image, people are attracted to it. The ability of waiters and the atmosphere of the café are absolutely amazing, as it has high-quality service and food. The café agrees to fulfill the needs of the customer if a food item is not available in the café. As TripAdvisor has stated, customer satisfaction is 91 percent, and people have rated it 4.5 stars out of 5 (Berry, 2015).
Speed
In responding to customers’ demands, speed is the degree of rapidity with which actions are performed (Kümin et al., 2017).
Customer’s expectation
- Quick order responses
- Fast services in the delivery
Performance against objective
Sometimes, the coffee shop faces a minor issue regarding taking and delivering orders. Newly hired staff are not trained and take too much time to get back to the customer. If the customer has to wait, he may not visit the café again. However, the chief executive of the café has discussed the matter with the waiters, and the staff are trying to provide quick services despite high costs (Tomlin, 2015).
Dependability
Dependability is the ability of the café to deliver the services and goods that it has promised to customers (Kümin et al., 2017).
Customer’s expectations
- Available stock for several orders
- Queues must be minimum
Performance against expectations
Many customers have left negative feedback on the TripAdvisor website. Some customers have stated that they did not get anything even after waiting for an hour. The general manager of the café has stated that they are providing complimentary drinks and muffins to customers. However, this step has affected the revenue of the café. Dependability has affected cost rates (Soysa et al., 2015).
Flexibility
Customers expectation
- Discount
- Flexibility in Delivery time
Performance against expectation
When the purpose of flexibility is considered, customers have the flexibility to change their drinks and food items. Regular customers and members of the café get loyalty cards and discount vouchers. There is a specific 50-pound coupon for students who visit the café daily (White, 2016).
Cost
Customer expectation
- High price
- High quality
- Competitive prices
Performance against expectation
As the café provides a high level of drinks and food items, the prices are also high. To maintain the best hygiene and customer service, a huge amount of money is required. There is generally a relationship between costs and the quality of goods (Soysa et al., 2015).
2.8 Process Assessment
The variety of food and drinks provided by the café is highly remarkable. However, variation is seasonal (McGlynn et al., 2015).
2.9 Process And Layout
Potential and daily customers are targeted by the café. Customers can order any sort of mocktail that is not present on the menu, and the café management tries its best to provide such orders. The policies are designed to hire waiters so that they can do every sort of work. Chefs and other administrators have two shifts depending on their pay.
2.10 5S
Representing the systematic technique, the following 5S principles are used.
Sort (Seiri)
Sometimes, the café needs extra staff, which means that if it requires an employee, it calls him or her. If the café is not busy with a crowd, no such employee is required.
Set (Seiton)
The café has assigned a specific position for everything. It means that if staff need anything specific, they can get it easily.
Shine (Seiso)
Everything remains functional and clean in the café. The company strategies require management to keep the atmosphere clean and pleasant.
Standardize (Seiketsu)
A supervisor is appointed, and his work is to make sure that the café does its best to provide services.
Sustain (Shitsuke)
To keep standards high and improve performance, the café has developed a commitment and pride promise (White, 2016).
2.11 Layout
Layout analysis
The coffee shop has only one floor with a relatively small floor area. It has a bar section where people can get their drinks while standing. Eight to nine tables are present inside the café for seating. On the right side of the bar section, the kitchen is present. At the entrance, a waitress is always standing to greet customers. A small private dining room is available for couples or any private meeting. The customer service office and staff office are downstairs, as this area is only for management and administrative use. Outside the café, there is a large sitting area for students. The café is up to date, and it meets every expectation (Rankin et al., 2015).
2.12 Recommendations
- Staff timing and speed must be improved to meet customers’ expectations.
- As guests have an issue while waiting for orders, the café needs to enhance dependability.
- Improvement in the layout is required, as people sometimes want to wait for their friends and family. From the bar to the sitting area, there is no space even for standing.
- As the company loses money while providing complimentary dishes, the team must work on this issue.
2.13 References
- Berry, D. M. 2015. Critical theory and the digital. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
- Tomlin, L. 2015. British Theatre Companies: 1995-2014: Mind the Gap, Kneehigh Theatre, Suspect Culture, Stan’s Cafe, Blast Theory, Punchdrunk. (Vol. 3). Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Bradley, K. 2015. Rational recreation in the age of affluence: the café and working-class youth in London, ca. 1939-1965.
- Hoffeins, M. 2005. The Bloomsbury Group.
- Bartlett, N. J. D. 2005. A double shot 2% mocha latte, please, with whip: Service encounters in two coffee shops and at a coffee cart. Second language needs analysis, 305, 43.
- Gupta, N. 2004. Grande Wi-Fi: understanding what Wi-Fi users are doing in coffee-shops. (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
- Arnot, C., Boxall, P. C., & Cash, S. B. 2006. Do ethical consumers care about price? A revealed preference analysis of fair trade coffee purchases. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d’agroeconomie., 54(4), 555-565.
- Pijlman, F. T. A., Rigter, S. M., Hoek, J., Goldschmidt, H. M. J., & Niesink, R. J. M. 2005. Strong increase in total delta‐THC in cannabis preparations sold in Dutch coffee shops. Addiction Biology, 10(2), 171-180.’
- Boyer, K. K., Hallowell, R., & Roth, A. V. 2002. E-services: operating strategy—a case study and a method for analyzing operational benefits. Journal of Operations Management, 20(2), 175-188.
- Heizer, J., 2016. Operations Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India.
- Renard, M. C. 1999. The interstices of globalization: The example of fair coffee. Sociologia ruralis, 39(4), 484-500.
- Heathcote, E. (2004). London caffs. Academy Press.
- Ateş, A., Kılınç, C.Ç. and Sunar, H., 2014. Analysing Online Customer Experience with Tripadvisor: the Case of Konya.
- Chen, Y.S. and Wu, S.T., 2017. Social networking practices of Viennese coffeehouse culture and intangible heritage tourism. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, pp. 1-22.
- Rankin, S.K.N., Kamizaki, K. and McLean, H., 2015. Toronto’s Changing Neighborhoods: Gentrification of Shopping Two shopping streets in low-income, ethnically super-diverse neighborhoods of Toronto. Art galleries, boutiques, and cafés on one street, social control by the state on the other. In Global Cities, Local Streets (pp. 152-181). Routledge.
- White, J., 2016. London in the twentieth century: a city and its people.. Random House.
- McGlynn, K.A., Petrick, J.L. and London, W.T., 2015. Global epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma: an emphasis on demographic and regional variability. Clinics in liver disease, 19(2), pp. 223-238.
- Slater, M.J., Barker, J.B., Coffee, P. and Jones, M.V., 2015. Leading for gold: social identity leadership processes at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health., 7(2), pp. 192-209.
- Kümin, B. and Tlusty, B.A., 2017. The world of the tavern: Public houses in early modern Europe.. Routledge.
- Soysa, R., Choi, S.K., Jeong, Y.W., Kim, S.J. and Choi, Y.S., 2015. Pyrolysis of Douglas fir and coffee ground and product biocrude-oil characteristics. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 115, pp. 51-56.
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