FRIDAY 18 JANUARY 2013 ______GUEST BLOG: PHILIP NEWMAN-HALL
The Master Innholders
General Managers' Conference 2013
Hello friends
I am delighted that a very special "guest" has agreed to write a blog for my website. Philip Newman-Hall is the epitome of cool, calm and collected, and it is he who has written about the Master Innholders General Managers' Conference when I made the after-dinner speech to a collected audience of 450 industry professionals. I can only blush and hand you over to his thoughts... RB
Photograph courtesy of Katherine Alano | Caterer & Hotelkeeper
Raymond Blanc was in effervescent form on Monday night when he was the after dinner speaker at The Master Innholders General Managers' Conference held in The Great Room of Grosvenor House.
450 industry professionals rose to their feet to give him a standing ovation at the end of forty five minutes of not only wit and wisdom, filled with anecdotes and passion but also for a talk delivered in his wonderfully sincere and at times self deprecating style.
Whilst a script was evident from the copious notes that he held in his hand on mounting the stage and which for most of the evening lay on the lectern untouched, it was his off piste presentation which was delivered from the heart that brought the applause.
The main messages that he delivered were ones that will be familiar to so many of us within the industry.
- Look after your team and your people as you can't do it without them.
- Push your boundaries at all times and don't be led by fashion. Be honest to yourself and what you stand for.
- Never settle for second best and always be true to the standards you set.
Raymond was particularly keen to mention all those who have helped him and Le Manoir get to where it is now, and he was joined on stage at the end of the evening by many of those who have worked with him in the past and who still work with him now. These included Nicholas Dickinson, now at Congham Hall, Sue Williams now at Cliveden, Andrew Foulkes now at Gidleigh Park, Andrew Thomason now at Gravetye Manor, Tom Lewis now at Swinton Park and Philip Newman-Hall (me!), Gurval Durand and Paul Shanahan all from Le Manoir.
Photograph courtesy of Katherine Alano | Caterer & Hotelkeeper
No one who was at the conference could have failed to be inspired by Raymond's passion and I heard it said that two Frenchmen were the most scintillating speakers of the day: Raymond himself and Fred Sirieix of Galvin Windows at The Hilton in Park Lane.
Best wishes
Philip
PS Please tell me what you think of my blogs and my website: I want to hear from you!
The
DVD of Raymond Blanc's hugely successful five part series - The Very
Hungry Frenchman - broadcast on BBC2 earlier this year, is now on sale.
To purchase your copy from Amazon, please click on the link below:
www.amazon.co.uk/The-Very-Hungry-Frenchman-DVD
If you would like a signed copy of the DVD, this can be ordered via Le Manoir's website. Please click on the link below and request a signed copy in the 'special instructions' box at checkout:
www.manoir.com/gift_shop
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Contact Raymond via the Contact page of the website