Fig - food service - Consultancy Ltd

08/04/2026

So the weekend was quite nice weather wise.
Inbetween the competitive lawn mowing – (has next door mowed their lawn ? does ours need mowing ) , we ventured out with family for a meal out.

I’m always nervous about eating out on Bank Holidays and big calendar event days like Mothers Day or Easter, not because of the big crowds, but I know that its some of the most stressful within the hospitality calendar, when the general public go from perfectly nice people to the evil white striped gremlin from the film of the same name when their family days out become awful for any and everyone having the displeasure to serve them.

Anyway, I digress, and regarding this weekend, we visited a nice pub in the Midlands, was reasonably busy and service was ok, big tick.

The thing that let them down was…. Flavour !!.

Every cookery programme that has ever landed is constantly telling you to season, nothing fancy, just salt and pepper, so easy, it’s the base point of any kitchen
So if its so easy, why would a busy pub / restaurant get it so wrong?

The answer- when is gets busy, standards slip, I imagine that the priority was to send out food because it was ready ... not because it was right.
Sounds basic and it is . One of the first rules taught at catering college is
- Taste, season , and then Taste again.
In the end its not a big menu that fills the carpark, it’s the simple things done well that keeps them coming back.

Get the foundations right, the rest will follow.

26/03/2026

A Calm Response, expands Control. - article by Ben Sterling.

A saw this article earlier this week but I thought that it is so true of how most of us respond under pressure- i.e. you get an email that you read in a certain way, depending on your state of mind at the time, and you fire back with a curt response, only to regret it later.

Anyway, have a read , its about Resilience.

Capacity increases when your response becomes more regulated than the initial trigger.
Our emotional reactivity narrows perspective and drains mental bandwith. Calm response preserves clarity.

Physiologically, pausing before reacting reduces adrenaline spikes and allows the prefrontal cortex to stay engaged. This improves decision- making and protects energy.

This is not about suppressing emotion, it is about regulating it.

Think of a recent situation that got you frustrated.

How quickly did you respond ?
What might a slower response have changed ?

When something unexpected happens today, pause for 5 seconds before speaking or acting .

Have a good day 😉

17/03/2026

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀

The Welsh Government has just published its Interim Report on the Universal Primary Free School Meals (UPFSM) policy.

If you are a Headteacher or School Business Manager in Wales, here are the 3 critical takeaways you need to know, and what you should do next:

Priority 1 - The eFSM Funding Trap- (eligible free school meals)
Because all primary children now get free meals, many parents are no longer registering for income-related Free School Meals (eFSM).
This misunderstanding directly threatens your Pupil Development Grant (PDG) allocations

Priority 2. The Lunchtime Squeeze
With more children eating hot meals, school infrastructure is feeling the strain. Larger schools are reporting longer queues, rushed eating, and chaotic dining environments. Lunchtime now starts earlier in the day in larger 2- 3 form entry schools, impacting on lesson time

Priority 3. The Uptake
Whilst younger , infant children engage well, the older junior children, less so, generally because they are the last to be fed, and are rushed for afternoon lessons to start again.

For a more detailed breakdown of this post and the action that schools need to take go to : https://blog.fig-consultancy.org

06/03/2026

Why the Traditional Pub Has All But Disappeared !!

So you've all seen our pubs disappearing over the past 20 years , squeezed by falling beer sales, supermarket alcohol pricing, rising costs, and perhaps most frustratingly, the complex relationships between tenants and large pub companies.

And while there's been plenty of debate in Parliament and the industry about how to fix it, what you may not know until you read this article, (at which point you'll wonder how you ever survived a pub quiz without it) is something called the Pub Code.

The Pub Code, which turns 10 years old this year (no birthday party planned, fittingly enough), was introduced to make things fairer in theory for pub companies and tied tenants.

At its heart, a tenant landlord, or "tied pub," must buy their beer and sometimes other drinks from the pub company that owns the building. Seems fair enough: landlord gets a pub, pub gets a tenant who sells their beer. Everyone's happy. In theory.

In practice, tenants feel they pay high prices for the beer, high prices for rent, and have little chance of renegotiation once the lease is signed. Less "partnership," more "hostage situation with a beer tap."

So the government stepped in and introduced the Pub Code in 2016 to make the relationship between the two a little more balanced. The system works on just two main principles:

Pub companies must be fair to their tenants

A tied tenant should be no worse off than a "free of tie" tenant

Simple enough on paper. Less simple when the pub company in question is a faceless corporation whose idea of "fairness" involves a lot of small print.

Want to know more ?? - read the full article at

https://blog.fig-consultancy.org

11/12/2025

Let's be Honest ! - this year for many has been ... well a bit s**t really. Could be work, family, the budget, or the current weather.

When you get on a train, you want to board quietly, find a seat- (or stand in a corner), put your headphones on, and silently hope that nobody sits next to you.

"it's the British thing !!".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xctzp0dp9uc

Well - have a look at this- (it is old, but always worth a rewatch), it may just put a smile on your face and lift your spirits .... Have a nice day 😃

Monday morning blues is spontaneously transformed into glorious public sing-a-long! Best i've ever seen. Full story behind this morning can be found here ht...

03/06/2025

Sales or Business slow ? - What are you doing ??

When revenue slows, but operating costs are still high many operations look at cutting costs or say things like -
"down to the weather" - or - "its the end of the month"
However, before you or your contractor start to cut costs , here are the 5 most common hidden inefficiencies that are frequently overlooked !!

Portion control - we all talk about it ! - but are your staff consistently hitting the right portions every time ? -
Do they use the right spoon or ladle, or just grab what's closest ?
Do favourite customers get a bigger serving ?

Revenue per hour - are you tracking how much revenue (or meals sold) for every hour spent on serving staff labour on your quietest days ?

Production charts - Do you check what you made and sold yesterday so as to increase or decrease production today ? or does Tim always make the same number of dishes every day, regardless ?

Grab & Go Waste - Have you switched to " buying in" to avoid allergen labelling, and are your cold items on a standing order, with items being thrown every day ?- What is your shelf -life strategy - do you have one or know what it means ?

Sales Mix - With ingredient prices fluctuating constantly, are your dishes accurately costed out ? - you may have 20 or so dishes on the menu, but how many really make you the margin that you need .

If you don't track it - you cant measure it
Keep things Simple-

Small changes can have the biggest impact ?

Make one small change today, and it can make a big difference in your operation tomorrow !

If you are not sure or need help benchmarking your current operation, send a message or email for a free consultation

09/05/2025

£14 for what is basically a fancy Sandwich ? - Are you ‘avin a giraffe?”

“Wow — you must be raking it in!”

That’s the classic reaction many food truck owners and street food caterers hear from customers and (sometimes) event organisers too.

But here’s the truth: street food is not a gold mine .... it’s hard graft.

Unlike a restaurant that can manage stock daily and run ‘specials’ to avoid waste, food vendors often face the opposite. If they don’t sell out at an event, much of that food goes straight in the bin.

And that £14 ? It’s not just paying for your lunch. It’s covering:

✅ Pitch fees (which don’t guarantee footfall)
✅ Fuel for towing a 3.5-tonne mobile kitchen
✅ Disposable serveware, cleaning materials, gas, and prep time
✅ A prep day before and a clean-down day after
✅ Stock that might never sell and can’t always be reused

We haven't even covered Labour and food cost yet

Oh, and let’s not forget the unknowns:
❗️ Poor event promotion
❗️ A mismatch between the food offer and the crowd
❗️ Zero insight from organisers on what the audience actually wants

Unfortunately there a number of organisers out there who are interested in the "pitch fee" that the caterer provides, but have no real interest in how that caterer will trade.

or comments like.

We need a cheap burger van, not fancy street food, can you do something for a fiver ? our crowd won’t pay for it.”

At Fig Consultancy, we help bridge that gap — advising event organisers on how to support vendors fairly, and helping traders plan realistically and profitably.

Because street food done right adds real value — but only when the setup, audience, and offer are aligned.

Let’s rethink the assumptions and start having smarter conversations about value — not just price.