Better service not so puzzling

MASTERCHEF: Ray McVinnie will be at the "Raising the Bar" meet and greet on June 16. PHOTO/FILE

Rotorua business people can soon expect to receive their puzzle pieces as part of a local initiative to lift service standards across the district.

The first Raising the Bar workshops have been announced to begin early July. MasterChef New Zealand judge Ray McVinnie will be part of a meet and greet function and is also booked to hold a Raising the Bar workshop this year.

Three weeks ago the Rotorua Daily Post helped launch the Raising the Bar initiative, which is being led by a group of Rotorua residents to help raise service standards in the city and make it the best place in the country for friendly, efficient and high-level service.

Involved with the new group are the Rotorua Cuisine Co-operative, business broker Heinz Fett of ABC Business Sales, Mike Steiner of the Inner City Focus Group and Kay Clarke and Yumiko Kawano of Stay and Play New Zealand Tourism Connections. They have been joined by Rotorua district councillor and Inner City Revitalisation portfolio leader Karen Hunt and a range of other local business people.

The Raising the Bar initiative will get under way at a meet and greet to be held in the Rotorua District Council Chamber from 5.30pm on June 16. It will also update interested locals on the progress made - and some exciting future initiatives - of the Inner City Focus Group.

Mr Fett said as part of the initiative Rotorua business would be asked to literally "put the Rotorua puzzle together", and in the next week most businesses would be hand-delivered individually-numbered puzzle pieces in the hope they would support the initiative.

"There are 1000 puzzle pieces and we will be asking business to be part of the Rotorua puzzle. They should be delivered before the meet and greet on the 16th and after the meeting we will be asking them to put the puzzle together."

Mr Fett said two workshops had already been finalised for 5pm on July 1 and 8am on July 2.

Both will be run by the ANZ Bank and held at Rydges Rotorua Hotel under the title "How to deliver excellent service" and will cost $15 a head.

"We really want to encourage owners to bring their staff along as well.

"Service is not a dirty word ... it is a high value commodity that adds to a business immensely," he said.

Anyone interested in further information on Raising the Bar should email Kay Clarke at kay@stayandplaynz.com.