Total lack of commercial acumen....

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BushBlade said:
On behalf of Sheffield United. They can't just hide behind Compass. It's up to United to manage their sub-contractors. I can't say it's my biggest bugbear, we've always had to queue for stuff at half time, long before concepts such as outsourcing but it seems to piss a lot of people off.
Maybe the bottom line is that there just aren't enough outlets in the ground but if we can make improvements, we should look to do so. There should be enough expertise within the McCabe empire to set up some relevant KPIs, if not now, when we renew the contract.
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Exactly. We subcontract at my company and have had some real issues that have caused customer problems that have outstripped the cost savings, not to mention brand damage.

I'm not saying catering at the Lane is the same but it seems ludicrous that the club would just ignore the pitiful service provided, and people just blame Compass and not the club.
 

Davalon said:
Exactly. We subcontract at my company and have had some real issues that have caused customer problems that have outstripped the cost savings, not to mention brand damage.

I'm not saying catering at the Lane is the same but it seems ludicrous that the club would just ignore the pitiful service provided, and people just blame Compass and not the club.
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In my job I manage a team of people and have to oversee any complaints that are made occasionally due to service received from suppliers.

I wish I could just respond with sorry it's not us it's our suppliers.

The catering issue and the bars around the ground is an example of where we should be looking to improve revenue - we need to look at the route cause of the problems and address these with workable solutions.

We are going to have scenarios this season where 25000 paying customers would be willing to buy food/drink and SUFC apparently aren't being proactive at taking advantage of this.
 
Tunstall Fred said:
You could have purchased 2 beach towels with your £50
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I went to buy a beach towel from the club shop in mid June only to be told it would be mid July before they were in stock. Does the supplier not realise a large proportion of football fans like to holiday outside of the football season?!!
 
I should coco said:
You're entitled to your view but personally I don't give a shit about the areas they have 'control over'. They can sell right out of shirts, Heineken, pies, desso door mats or any other merchandised shite as far as I'm concerned.

If I see a winning team giving it's all then that is enough for me. Obviously I'm not a very good 'customer'.
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That point of view is wrong on every level. But then it's motivated soley by the fact your daughter is part of the problem behind one of the bars. Not blaming her personally so don't get on your high horse but don't let Dad testosterone stop you seeing what is a fucking huge problem,ie our shit catering offer.
 
seanbeenstattoo said:
That point of view is wrong on every level. But then it's motivated soley by the fact your daughter is part of the problem behind one of the bars. Not blaming her personally so don't get on your high horse but don't let Dad testosterone stop you seeing what is a fucking huge problem,ie our shit catering offer.
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Totally agree. I bet the commercial departments at the big PL clubs don't sell out of anything.

Indeed, selling out of any product means you've got your commercial offering totally wrong. You've either set the price wrong, not understood demand or worse haven't got a clue about the space you're in. There's a reason the top clubs are money generating machines, and it's not just tv money. They're experts in milking every last drop out their customers.

Sadly at the moment we're a million miles away from that.
 
Davalon said:
This attitude that if the football is good then people shouldn't have feelings on other areas of the club if they're not positive is slightly North Koreaesque to me.

Likewise this same mentality that any observation if negative automatically qualifies as just looking for something to whinge or moan about, is equally ridiculous.
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If your local shop gave you the crap produce and shite service that's available at BL would you still shop there? It's an individual's choice. It's not new and has always been a problem here and at many other places.

The question is why don't Compass see how much they are possibly losing by employing staff the majority who have no motivation or work ethic and "managers" who disappear at the slightest sign of a complaint. Even if they did, it wouldn't benefit the club who btw extended the contract recently. Which would suggest that Compass are the best financial option sadly.
 
I'm outraged.....what will I spend my £50 on now! Why won't they take my money!!!!

No ambition.
 
spongebobblade said:
I went to buy a beach towel from the club shop in mid June only to be told it would be mid July before they were in stock. Does the supplier not realise a large proportion of football fans like to holiday outside of the football season?!!
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No, the supplier is a sweat shop in Bangladesh or somewhere. We've become victims of our own success unfortunately. I don't think anyone expected us to do so well or to attract such a big spend on everything United related. Even I've been surprised by the number of people who seem to have fallen back in love with the Blades
I think the club's been caught out a bit, hopefully it won't happen again. (Unless it's because we go up again this season, in which case, sod the beach towels).
 
Sean Thornton said:
If your local shop gave you the crap produce and shite service that's available at BL would you still shop there? It's an individual's choice. It's not new and has always been a problem here and at many other places.

The question is why don't Compass see how much they are possibly losing by employing staff the majority who have no motivation or work ethic and "managers" who disappear at the slightest sign of a complaint. Even if they did, it wouldn't benefit the club who btw extended the contract recently. Which would suggest that Compass are the best financial option sadly.
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I can appreciate that. No idea what the contract stipulates but through experience I know what a pain it can be when a supplier is doing a shit job but just trots out 'but that isn't in the contract'.

I would spend more at the Lane each season if the quality was notably better and the queues dissipated quicker. I usually find a bit more to tempt me at a reasonable amount of away grounds.

Whilst on this topic, does anyone know why they offer a greater selection of food on John St to the South Stand?
 
spongebobblade said:
I went to buy a beach towel from the club shop in mid June only to be told it would be mid July before they were in stock. Does the supplier not realise a large proportion of football fans like to holiday outside of the football season?!!
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And you've been quietly simmering ever since?

:)
 
Davalon said:
I can appreciate that. No idea what the contract stipulates but through experience I know what a pain it can be when a supplier is doing a shit job but just trots out 'but that isn't in the contract'.

I would spend more at the Lane each season if the quality was notably better and the queues dissipated quicker. I usually find a bit more to tempt me at a reasonable amount of away grounds.

Whilst on this topic, does anyone know why they offer a greater selection of food on John St to the South Stand?
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I think Compass upgraded their facilities in John Street.
 

At least we're not WBA fans; this is their season ticket that arrived today:

image.jpg


Darren Fletcher now plays for Stoke
 
The Compass Catering Staff only do the job at the Lane Part Time ......

Their Full Time work is making Shirts for Adidas ................ :rolleyes:

and yes, 7 - 8 year olds Kits have been out of stock for over 2 weeks now ..............
 
LS26BLADE said:
In my job I manage a team of people and have to oversee any complaints that are made occasionally due to service received from suppliers.

I wish I could just respond with sorry it's not us it's our suppliers.

The catering issue and the bars around the ground is an example of where we should be looking to improve revenue - we need to look at the route cause of the problems and address these with workable solutions.

We are going to have scenarios this season where 25000 paying customers would be willing to buy food/drink and SUFC apparently aren't being proactive at taking advantage of this.
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But you aren't going to get anywhere near 25000 people willing to pay for stuff even if it was decent beer and food. Even if it was competitively priced. I'm sure the high ups at catering companies don't work at those rates of return because they'd soon be in trouble despite their huge mark ups.
 
Sean Thornton said:
But you aren't going to get anywhere near 25000 people willing to pay for stuff even if it was decent beer and food. Even if it was competitively priced. I'm sure the high ups at catering companies don't work at those rates of return because they'd soon be in trouble despite their huge mark ups.
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I accept that but then you don't know this until you've tried it.

How many people won't buy food or drink because of the problems highlighted?
 
LS26BLADE said:
I accept that but then you don't know this until you've tried it.

How many people won't buy food or drink because of the problems highlighted?
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Personally I'd say less than those who won't buy because it's overpriced and poor. But that's my opinion only and not a fact. It's one and the same problem really though, shite caterers but the club happy with the deal on the table.
 
LS26BLADE said:
I accept that but then you don't know this until you've tried it.

How many people won't buy food or drink because of the problems highlighted?
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Profit on a pie that is sold....maybe an optimistic 60%

Loss on an unsold pie....100%

And yes, I do know that the GP margin on dry sales in a pub should be aimed at 70%
 
Ben_1982 said:
They'll probably pay by us going with someone else at the end of the season, this ain't the first fuck up
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If the contract with them is up next year I guess we'll have a decent bargaining chip when negotiations start :)

For what it's worth I seriously doubt we'll be using another kit manufacturer next year . Our merchandise is infinitely superior to the crap we've put out over the years . Even I bought a couple of items last season and I've bought virtually nothing in 40 years :confused:
 
Davalon said:
This attitude that if the football is good then people shouldn't have feelings on other areas of the club if they're not positive is slightly North Koreaesque to me.
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It might be to you, but maybe I care a whole lot more about what happens on the pitch than you?
(Warning - Potential 'biggest Blade' competition scenario)

Davalon said:
Likewise this same mentality that any observation if negative automatically qualifies as just looking for something to whinge or moan about, is equally ridiculous.
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I really don't have a problem with people raising it, but I think it should be kept in proportion. Plenty on here would buy the latest Aston Martin for its looks, its performance and its build quality then start pissing and moaning that the ashtrays are a bit slow to close.

seanbeenstattoo said:
but then it's motivated soley by the fact your daughter is part of the problem behind one of the bars. Not blaming her personally so don't get on your high horse but don't let Dad testosterone stop you seeing what is a fucking huge problem,ie our shit catering offer.
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Not 'solely' at all, I'm just explaining the 'pay peanuts get monkeys' philosophy of Compass. If you saw her in action you'd agree she is one of the more switched on ones, but that is by the by. Dad testosterone has nothing to do with it and of course I can see the shit catering offer you mention.

I've been on the Kop since 1980 and the queues for the gangways means you can only just get to the bog if you don't want to miss any of the game and have no chance of the catering 'offering' The difference is I don't see it as a 'fucking huge problem', just a side issue.

Maybe the fact you've run bars and pubs means that your 'landlord testosterone' helps make a mountain out of a molehill?
 
Sean Thornton said:
Personally I'd say less than those who won't buy because it's overpriced and poor. But that's my opinion only and not a fact. It's one and the same problem really though, shite caterers but the club happy with the deal on the table.
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Top Cat said:
Profit on a pie that is sold....maybe an optimistic 60%

Loss on an unsold pie....100%

And yes, I do know that the GP margin on dry sales in a pub should be aimed at 70%
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I can walk into any number of decent Butchers or Farm Shop in these parts, hand over around £1.50 and receive in exchange a top quality pie or pasty. You can GP that to 100% if you want and it will still be a far more attractive proposition than the sludge chambers currently on offer from a mfr who probably spend more per unit on marketing than ingredients.

Trouble is, it takes time and energy to go out and put something like this together and the bottom line is that whilst two of the three stakeholders in this (SUFC/Compass/Us) are happy with the status quo it aint happening.Spend your money in anyone of the numerous pubs, cafes and sandwich shops which proliferate around our ground who offer a better quality/value ratio.
 
raul said:
I can walk into any number of decent Butchers or Farm Shop in these parts, hand over around £1.50 and receive in exchange a top quality pie or pasty. You can GP that to 100% if you want and it will still be a far more attractive proposition than the sludge chambers currently on offer from a mfr who probably spend more per unit on marketing than ingredients.

Trouble is, it takes time and energy to go out and put something like this together and the bottom line is that whilst two of the three stakeholders in this (SUFC/Compass/Us) are happy with the status quo it aint happening.Spend your money in anyone of the numerous pubs, cafes and sandwich shops which proliferate around our ground who offer a better quality/value ratio.
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The Sludge Chamber 1991 Peel Session is up there with the best.
 

Or maybe ISC, there are other people on here who care just as greatly about 'what happens on the pitch' as you do (or maybe even more though not sure there is a such a thing as a bladeyometer to test this who cares more scenario!), BUT also want to get a pie and a beer or any other product served to them in an efficient and sensible way. Maybe they just have greater expectations or aspirations than your good self on that they want excellent football but also other parts of the match day experience to be improved also. It's not a case of only being able to pick one. They are completely independent issues from each other. Of course the football is by far the most important aspect of the match day experience - it colours people's day/weekend/week. But other parts which can be improved should be if there is a genuine control in place and it is feasible and cost effective to do so.

It shouldn't be beyond Utd in this day and age to have a decent concourse service through their sub contracted caterers. The caterers should have performance targets just like any other industry and if they can't deliver then there should be a get out option available to the club. I suspect that Utd have just gone for the 'more money on the table' offer and been happy to live with it and the poor service offered to fans.

You can't directly blame the club for the poor quality service which is on offer currently, but you can indirectly as they have seen fit to have Compass in place in 2010 I believe. Most other clubs seem to be able to handle the catering side of things better than Compass do. There really isn't an excuse. Maybe the new deal with Heineken is an example of the club trying to improve things in this area, though it has certainly taken them long enough to acknowledge fans/customers frustrations in this area.

I rarely buy anything from them these days as its just not worth the hassle and frustration. I eat and drink before and after the match so it doesn't bother me personally. But just because I'm not personally affected, it doesn't mean that i don't want things to improve on this issue as it clearly does frustrate a lot of others. My sporting fan aspiration is for Utd to he the best at absolute everything. If they had a cleanest bogs competition I would want Utd to win it. Jusy thinking 'I'm only bothered about the football and don't give a monkeys about the other stuff' is just a cop out in my book. Perhaps it is still acceptable for the club to have toilet facilities that used to be there back in the 70s then when you used to stand in puddles of piss at half time? Thankfully we didn't just have the 'it's all about the football only' attitude and we have moved on as a club, rightfully so.

Re the issue of the football shirts. Not the club's fault. It the suppliers who have let the club down so no blame from me attached to the club. Utd have been let down as much as the fans have. Question for Utd is do they renew the contract or go elsewhere. I'd be inclined to stick with Adidas as it's a far superior product to other stuff we have had, but hopefully Adidas have been informed of Utd's disappointment. Hopefully mistakes are learnt from by all parties concerned.
 
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