TRP News 06/03/2023
- Knowledge Hub
- Mar 10, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 13, 2023
Another death in The Royal Portfolio family. We are very sad to announce that Andisiwe Fumbalele, who worked at Birkenhead House, passed away on 22 February. She will be dearly missed by her colleagues. A few staff members went to the Eastern Cape to attend the funeral and represent Birkenhead House, which the family really appreciated.
VALUE OF THE MONTH
To create an environment of relaxation and enjoyment
PROPERTIES UPDATE
Royal Malewane Lodges
The rain that came with Cyclone Freddy caused massive damage to the roads many of which were closed for at least 3 weeks. The team has worked hard to ensure that guests were still getting a complete experience despite many logistical challenges such as no deliveries to the lodges, many roads closed during game drives and vehicles getting stuck as well as water damage to some of the infrastructure. At Waterside the teams have had to bring the wine cellar and bird hide back to their former glory as well as fix the pool, roads and chimneys.
The F&B teams had to use their creativity to keep the guests busy when they could not go on game drives. For example, Ramos Malapane, one of our Duty Managers, entertained the guest with an evening of African storytelling.
The Apprentices made an incredible video summarizing all the fun and chaos of the past 3 weeks.
At Waterside, the Purpose & Values Committee is in full swing and ensuring our Culture is exciting and fun!
Birkenhead House
To thank all the staff for the hard work and in honour of staff appreciation day on 3 March, all the staff were treated to KFC!
La Residence
La Residence also celebrated staff appreciation day - the Chefs baked some lovely cupcakes for everyone to enjoy.
There were quite a few guests staying at the hotel, keeping the team busy.
On the farm all the Shiraz grapes have been harvested. They will be used to make our La Residence Rosemary Jane Rosé and a component of the Nicole Alexandra Red Blend. The Cabernet still need to ripen a bit and will be picked in the next few weeks.
La Residence also hosted the Junior Sommelier course, presented by the Sommelier’s Academy on 2,3 & 6 March 2023. Four staff members participated
Anika De Jongh – The Silo Hotel
Danae Uys – Birkenhead House
Dillon Davids – La Residence
Theo Jephtas – La Residence
Huge congratulations to all of them! This is a great learning opportunity for them and we are looking forward to seeing them share their knowledge with our guests!
The Silo Hotel
The pace of the operations seems to be slowing down a little bit this last week. This allowed the staff to refresh themselves and think of new ways to improve the overall experience that they provide to our guests and to make their stay as enjoyable as possible.
Our Acting Food & Beverage Manager, Anika de Jongh, has just graduated from the Junior Sommelier programme offered by the South Africa Sommelier Association (SASA). As she begins her journey to have more of an impact on the wine experience that our guests have, we cannot wait to see how she puts her extraordinary skills to use.
MARKETING UPDATE
On the Public Relations side, our properties were the highlight of quite a few articles:
We hosted Timo Beck and Paula Weigl at Birkenhead House and La Residence in January and their South Africa Road Travel feature has just been published in Mr Düsseldorf - a lifestyle site for the German city of Düsseldorf, showcasing ideas and inspirations for dining, shopping and travel.
Birkenhead House and La Residence featured in NineteenGolf.Travel, a guide all Golfers will love! This is the largest independent luxury golf magazine in Switzerland and one of the largest in Europe.
La Residence was included by Haute Living in:"Sip In Style At The World’s Best Wine Hotels"
"If you’re searching for the absolute best wine hotel in South Africa,
let me assure you, La Residence is it. This stunning property is a slice of heaven"
The Silo Hotel got a wonderful review in Country & Townhouse after hosting Georgie Bentley-Buckle earlier this year
Click or Scan the QR code to read the articles!
Our two Designers, Chanel Breytenbach and Ashley Conradie, are busy putting together some itineraries and activities around La Residence including cycling, running and hiking routes around the Franschhoek Valley.
A few more photos of the Mark Williams shoot that took place at Royal Malewane in December. After sharing all the beautiful photos of Waterside, it is now the turn of the research centre.
FOUNDATION UPDATE
Head Office together with The Silo Hotel took part in the Friends of Child Protection pack. These packs are put together by volunteers and then distributed to police stations and hospitals for children who have suffered trauma. Each pack contains some necessities such as a toothbrush, toothpaste and a facecloth as well as something to comfort the children, a hand-knitted toy, crayons and a prayer.
Thank you to Bella da Silva (HR Administrator @TS), Emma Gelb (Sales & Marketing Co-ordinator) for organising, Laura Siebert (Marketing Assistant) for the beautiful pictures as well as everyone else who joined! Your help makes a significant difference.
HR UPDATE
Victor Borchers - Executive Coaching
Victor has landed, and will spend the next few weeks with us, doing training:
13-16 March: Head Office
16-22 March: Birkenhead House
23-28 March: La Residence
29-04 April: The Silo Hotel
05-13 April: Malewane Lodge
14 -19 April: Waterside
20-23 April: Farmstead
Stats SA - Feb 2023
The unemployment rate in South Africa is 32.7%. That means 17 000 million people in SA are unemployed - this number has doubled since 2012. The good news is that 197 000 new jobs have been created in the last quarter – and 167 000 of these were in Tourism. At The Royal Portfolio, we have done our part by appointing 46 new staff members this last Quarter.
Silo 17
ML 12
LR 8
BH 6
HQ 3
What does this mean?
# Look after your job, you are lucky to have one. # Upskill yourself, the more you know the more likely you able to get hired # Add value, make a difference # Be the best you can be (Make the best Coffee) # Be kind # Be honest, build trust # Show up (don’t lose your job for petty things) # Don’t get too COZY things can change and we saw that during COVID
# Be proud to work at The Royal Portfolio
Staff appreciation day at HQ
Head Office also organised a little treat for everyone to celebrate staff appreciation day!
OPEN POSITIONS
There are a few vacancies across our properties, so please ensure you look at the Careers page to see which new positions have become available (click here, scan the QR code or check in with your HR Manager to see what opportunities are available across the group).
Internal applications, please let your HOD and property HR Manager know if you are interested in applying.
External applications are only being received via our careers page (no paper-based CVs, or direct emails, this is to ensure that we remain POPI compliant).
TO BE WELCOMING GENUINE AND WARM
NEW STARTERS
A very warm welcome to the following new team members across The Royal Portfolio:
TO RECOGNIZE, REWARD AND UPLIFT
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Malewane Lodge
Malewane Lodge employee of the month for February 2023 is Brendan Davis, Apprentice Ranger. Well done Brendan!
La Residence
The Employee of the Month for February at La Residence is Precious Siduka, from the Housekeeping team. A huge well done Precious!
The Silo Hotel
Congratulation to Zandiswa Gundu from the Front Office team for being voted employee of the month of February at The Silo Hotel!
PROMOTIONS
Congratulations to Gary Berry on your promotion! We are so proud of you and your growth. We wish you all the best in your new position as Assistant Maintenance Manager. To recognize, reward, and uplift!
LONG SERVICE AWARDS - 5, 10, 15 & 20 Years with TRP in March!
Congratulations and thank you to the following staff for their loyalty and hard work over the years:
Constance Mabilana (Housekeeper @ML) | 10 years on 1 March
Lydia Shoeman (Senior Accountant @RM) | 10 years on 4 March
Primrose Nkomo (Chef de Partie @LR) | 10 years on 11 March
And a few that we missed in January, our apologies and congratulations!
Nik Vounnou (Deputy Head Professional Field Guide @WS) | 15 Years on 1 January
Agreement Ncube (Housekeeper @WS) | 10 Years on 1 January
Louis Malunga (Driver @WS) | 10 Years on 1 January
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