As someone whose favourite game as a little girl was pretending to be a waitress and whose first ever job was silver-service waitressing at the local golf club, it’s fair to say our new Operations Manager, Sasha Lees’ heart has always been in hospitality.
Ten years after taking the advice of her cousin, who worked as a chef at Lussmanns, to join the business, Sasha is loving her new role – ensuring everything runs smoothly behind the scenes at Lussmanns five restaurants, so that customers can enjoy a fabulous meal on the restaurant floor.
“I like to be organised, for things to be done correctly and the way I want them to be. I also really like managing people and am always keen to keep learning more.”
Rising up the ranks from waitress to supervisor then assistant manager and manager, taking in all Lussmanns restaurants at some point, Sasha has certainly learned a lot of valuable lessons. Customer interaction is something she prides herself on.
“I love the feeling of turning a complaint into something positive – helping customers leave the restaurant happy about their experience. It’s about reading the individual and knowing the right approach to take with different people.”
Day-to-day, as Operations Manager, Sasha is occupied with the real nuts and bolts of the business, like planning staff rotas, checking budgets and targets while also designing new bonus schemes and career progression paths as well as having regular meetings with the restaurant managers.
“I love that every day is different and I’ve always loved anything to do with food and so working in hospitality and especially for Lussmanns means I always enjoy being at work.
“I also love how sustainably sourced and fresh cooked everything is. I’ve never had a dish I don’t like at Lussmanns.”
Sasha’s love of food means that in what free time she has, she likes nothing more than cooking for friends and family at home.
Pressed to pick her favourite Lussmanns dish, she hedges her bets and picks two: the smoked MSC haddock and potato cake and the free-range chicken schnitzel with chilli linguine.
