Whalley Abbey is a Retreat and Conference House which is owned by The Diocese of Blackburn within The Church of England. It is situated within the ancient ruins of a medieval monastery with extensive grounds and gardens which are open to the public 365 days of the year.

Main Responsibilities:

Kitchen

• Prepare and cook breakfast for guest.
• Liaise with the chef to ensure appropriate stock levels and low food waste
• Liaise with Guest Services Manager to ensure numbers and dietary requirements and allergies are accurately known and adhered to.
• Know and follow the health and safety procedures in the kitchen
• Ensure the kitchen is clean and that the cleaning regimes are adhered to.
• Report to the chef any issues or concerns.

Refectory

• Ensure that the refectory is set up for breakfast and lunch.
• Ensure that the refectory of kept to a high level of cleanliness.
• Help to deliver food to the guests and ensure their customer satisfaction.
• Report to the guest services manager any issues or concerns.

Abbey House and Rooms

• Follow the clean and turnaround procedures for the bedrooms in a timely manner.
• Ensure that any defects are reported to the guest services manager.
• Help to identify and lost property.
• Help to clean the public areas in line with the Whalley Abbey procedures and schedules.
• Follow all applicable Whalley Abbey Standard Operating Procedures.

Training

• Participate in training sessions as required and identify training needs which will benefit the provision of your department.

Team Working

• Consciously contribute to effective team working.

Service Quality

Guest/Customer Satisfaction

• Constantly focus on the satisfaction of the Guest as our main purpose.
• Monitor customer satisfaction by communicating pro-actively with guests and staff.

Environment, Health & Safety and Security

• Follow carefully the Whalley Abbey standards on being environmentally friendly
• Follow all policy and procedures
• Fully understand the safety procedures of the Abbey and assist to ensure the safe evacuation of guests and staff
• Attend all Health and Safety training as instructed by the Director

• Experience in the hospitality industry of cooking, health and safety and customer care.
• Hold a current food hygiene certificate to at least level 2.
• Customer service skills: the ability to provide customer support in a prompt, friendly, and timely manner. Must also be able to follow-up on a guest requirements.
• Self- starter and team player: must be able to work both independently as well as in a team oriented environment to accomplish assigned tasks and goals
• Listening and communication skills: require the ability to actively listen to customers or guests to deduce what their real needs are.
• Professionalism: must be enthusiastic, respectful, and friendly; with a professional and welcoming presentation, and most importantly, possess a positive attitude
• Interpersonal skills: It is vital that you possess strong interpersonal skills to relate easily with people of various background and personalities. It is also required to help them establish relationships and build rapport with employees, customers, and guests
• Flexible in terms of being able to complete tasks and duties according to the demands of the Abbey and guests at the time.
• Demonstrate a high level of presentation of products and services which are guest facing eg room layouts, food presentation.
• The ability to understand, b supportive of and to be able to contribute towards the Vision and ethos of the Abbey.
• A very high standard of presentation and personal appearance.
• Interest and enjoyment in working with people

The Diocese of Blackburn represents the Church of England in most of Lancashire and part of Wigan Metropolitan Borough, covering an area of 878 square miles with a population of 1.3 million. The Diocese is made up of two archdeaconries, Blackburn and Lancaster, with a total of fourteen deaneries. There are 275 licensed churches, comprising around 237 parishes, with around 254 licensed clergy (of whom 146 FTE are stipendiary incumbents, plus approx. 25 stipendiary curates) and 158 licensed Readers.

How to apply - please do not apply via the pathways website. To apply please visit the Diocesan website General vacancies | The Diocese of Blackburn (anglican.org)

Salary: £11.26 per hour

Pension: Membership of the DBF, Royal London Pension Scheme 10% employer contribution and 2% employee contribution. Salary sacrifice is available if membership of the Clergy Pension Scheme is preferred.

Hours of Work: 40 hours per week

Holiday Entitlement: Entitlement to 25 days (not including statutory bank holidays) in the first year rising by 1 day per completed calendar year up to a maximum of 30 days per year. The holiday year runs from 1 January to 31 December.

Probation: This post will be subject to a six-month probationary period.