JUNAID ‘JD’ ABBASI

Villa E**, Al Reem Gardens, Al Wajba, Doha Qatar.

Mobile: +974******** email: adbcr5@r.postjobfree.com

I have a strong established background in hospitality and casual dining spanning 20 years, the majority of which have been in leadership roles. I have influenced many brands and have enjoyed great success. Growing from management through to Operations has given me a great insight and exposure to managing individuals and teams with varying skills, experience and personalities.

I am naturally enthusiastic, but under pressure, possess a calm disposition that allows me to adapt to change and any given situation, thus maintaining an effective team performance.

Opportunities to build successful teams, new openings and new concepts have made my past very rewarding. I am now looking to be part of an ambitious, challenging, adventurous leadership team and use my experience, passion and commitment to make people and brands achieve their true potential.

CAREER HISTORY

CONSULTANT - OPERATIONS DIRECTOR/ MANAGING DIRECTOR- FENG SUSHI - FEB 2017 – PRESENT

www.fengsushi.co.uk

Joined Feng Sushi to consolidate the business, bring operational excellence through systems, improve customer delivery through service and make it profitable.

-Joined as MD to bring Ebitda losses down which stood at £10K a week at the time I joined.

-Brought about immediate management and structural changes to team

-Created a daily/ weekly report structure from restaurant GM to Operations teams

-Brought new Head of marketing on board to refresh the brand

-Highlighted great team members and team achievement through weekly message to all teams.

-Introduced “Magic Moments” where teams captured staff going beyond call of duty.

-Introduced “Quarterly Hangouts” with each team members and GMs as appraisal format.

-Devised a new marketing and social media strategy.

-Made quick decisions to close non-performing sites as approved by board

-Site closures achieved healthy premium returns which helped aide to pay debt.

-Negotiated new lease terms for sites.

-Negotiated terms with existing and introduced new suppliers to business.

-Influenced/ encouraged teams on the ground to come up with new menu ideas.

-Created a chef’s group which presented new dishes to Ops team.

-Introduce new menu items/ GP system to stem wastage.

-Brought about 3 menu changes in 9 months whereas there had been none in past 5 years.

-Influenced Guest engagement plan/ deals and feedback.

-Ensured all H&S/ FS aspects are being audited and standards being met.

-Left the business in cash plus status and with healthy people culture.

OTHER CONSULTANCY ROLES

- Supported two independent businesses with the facilitation of full

operation systems, set-up, contract negotiations and new brand implementation.

- One of these businesses, a new concept, is subject to a NDA.

- The other business was a summer Pop-Up bar at Tobacco Dock called “ Skylight London”

oTobacco Dock’s unused space was turned into a roof top bar, where I provided operational support with the creation of operational systems

oHelped Skylight with pre-launch negotiation with suppliers and budgeted pre-opening costs

oCreated training materials, pre-opening HR materials including staff contracts

oCosted Rotas, created Gross and Net Margins forecast and Order sheets.

oHelped with recruitment and training of the team and implementation of systems.

-In addition, I did market study for a third company to compare cost and services through the industry.

-Setting up a comparable worksheet to gauge prices, services provided (out of hours/ in or out of London and ‘what if’ scenarios)

-Collected linen samples and rated them on quality including uniforms.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS - FARMACY LTD. AUG 2015 - JAN 2017

www.farmacylondon.com

-Helped set-up a new brand from theory to reality - restaurant and retail

-Formulated a 5-year business plan including financials

-Influenced the design and creative process from brand logo to brand positioning

-Created and influenced site floor plans including kitchen and bar design from draft through to approval

-Appointed outsourced accounts and payroll teams

-Set-up full operational systems from stock through to service

-Negotiated contracts with suppliers and chose those with similar ethos to Farmacy

-Identified appropriate suppliers and negotiated prices for every aspect of business, from fire safety through to CCTV

-Recruited new management and all hourly team members

-Facilitated creation of bespoke training manuals with hospitality training consultant

-Devised operational manuals to support systems

-Daily and weekly analysis of management KPIs

-Accountable for set-up and administration of both Health & Safety and Food Safety management systems.

-Restaurant traded 40% above budget in first 3 month with all KPIs below budget

CONSULTANT - OPERATIONS DIRECTOR - APRIL 2015 - AUG 2015

-Worked with Laurel Canyon Restaurants, a small group, comprising 3 brands including Chez Bob, Monkey Nuts and Chooks. Helping with management team development and productivity

-Helped various businesses bring procedural & operational structure to their business

-Prepared recruitment and marketing plans for growth

-Set up training systems and development plans for existing teams

-Set-up and introduced weekly KPIs structure

-3 businesses saw sales uplift from 7% to 12% following implementation of reporting and local marketing after month 2

-Experienced improved labour and stock results within two weeks of focus, analysis, spot checks and reporting

GIRAFFE CONCEPTS - REGIONAL OPERATIONS DIRECTOR - JUL 2014 - FEB 2015

www.giraffe.net

-Full accountability of operating 27 sites with approximate annual revenue of £22-25 million

-Responsible for 3 Operations Managers and a group of 27 general managers

-Accountability for 4 different brands; Classic Giraffe, Giraffe Stop, Giraffe Burgers & Cocktails and Giraffe Kiosk

-Developed and led new café concept for future Giraffe expansion in the Tesco estate

-Assigned accountability for HR and People team for whole company

-Implemented measures to gauge staff engagement

-Implemented company-wide system to measure staff turnover

GIRAFFE CONCEPTS - OPERATIONS MANAGER - MAR 2011 - JUL 2014

-Responsible for 10 restaurants with annual turnover of £8-12 million

-Full accountability for the opening and refurbishment projects of 10 Giraffe sites

-Awarded “Operations Manager of the Year” 3 years in a row

-Achieved best EBITDA in company on two occasions: 23% and 27% for 8 sites respectively

-Responsible for the complete overhaul of Giraffe’s Health & Safety and Food Safety policies and practices and subsequent training for the whole company

-Introduced wage saving modules in company-wide initiative through forecasting, resulting in 2% savings across the board.

-Development of 3 General Managers into Area Managers

-A strong reputation for succession planning and area culture through development workshops

CARLUCCIO’S - GENERAL MANAGER - JUNE 2010 - FEB 2011

www.carluccios.com

NET KITCHENS DIRECT - PARTNER - AUG 2009 - MAY 2010

www.netkitchensdirect.com

-I joined our family business to implement an effective management structure and marketing strategy

-Development of 3 General Managers into Area Managers

STRADA RESTAURANTS (TRAGUS) - AREA MANAGER - AUG 2004 - JUNE 2009

I began as a General Manager with the view to be fast tracked to Area Management. Responsible for a flagship restaurant with sales £2 million. After seven months, I was promoted to an Area Manager and assigned 6 restaurants which eventually grew to 11. I joined the company when it had 13 restaurants and departed when it had over 80.

-Responsible for 12 restaurants with the turnover of £12 million

-Full P&L and KPI accountability for each restaurant including sales, labour and PACE

-Responsible for management recruitment and liaising with recruitment team

-Responsible for increasing sales via marketing and sharing ideas with the marketing dept.

-I oversaw several successful openings for Strada with responsibility of exceeding sales, labour and marketing budgets

-I played a significant part of the successful integration of Strada with Tragus Group

-Successfully implemented a new till system, food stock, financial audit process and labour management in my region

THE OLIVE GARDEN - SENIOR GENERAL MANAGER, VIRGINIA, USA –

JAN 1998 – DEC 2003

www.olivegarden.com

An Italian restaurant company belonging to the Darden restaurant group. After quick success as a Restaurant Manager, I was promoted to a General Manager position and was responsible for restaurant with a turnover of $5.2 million and 155 team members. In my last year, I was looking after two sites with combined sales of nearly $12 million

-My first and foremost responsibility was to ensure that our guests ware having and exceptional guest experience and delivering on the brands promise; ‘to ensure that guests are enjoying their meal in the cleanest and safest restaurant in the industry.’

-I also managed a larger site with revenues of $6.8 million with 5 man management team

-Responsible for all facets of P&L

-Improved COS from 28% to 26% and improved bottom line profit from 21% to 23.5%

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

AUG 2012 DALE CARNEGIE: Leadership training for manager’s course.

JUN 2011 Independent Management School: 5-day course for restaurant operators.

JUN 2009 Franklin Covey: Attended 7 habits of highly successful people course

FEB ‘98 - SEPT ‘99 STRAYER UNIVERSITY – VIRGINIA, USA

A year of study in Software Engineering Courses including Programming, Maths and English

NOV ‘95 – DEC ‘97 NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, VIRGINIA, USA

Two years of study in Software Engineering, English, Maths and Physics

JUL ‘92 – AUG ‘94 DAYARAM JETHAMAL SCIENCE COLLEGE, KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Intermediate degree (HS diploma) with subject of pre-Engineering.

REFERENCES ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

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