The Faculty Club is, as it were, the collective name for a number of provisions in a thoroughly renovated building: from the restaurant and kitchen on the ground and first floors, the bars, the rooms, the terraces to the Blomzaal or Proffenbar upstairs: spaces cut out for more intimate parties and receptions. But also the other rooms in the building are very well suited for use as party or reception space according to Dirne, including the enormous terraces. There is always a reason to celebrate after all.
The challenge for Dirne and his people is to put the UT catering function back on the map. Because of the temporary closure and emergency provisions in the low-budget hotel Logica the customer base was reduced by 50%. And earning money is vital for UT-Catering, as the central financial UT-grant was reduced from 360,000 euro to almost nothing in two yearsÆ time. 'We have to take care of ourselves, but we take on that challenge together.' Dirne says - on basis of the Catering business plan - to aim for a turnover of 500,000 euro in 2004 and 575,000 in 2005. He considers the businesses surrounding the UT as a growth market; as well as the UT-clientele these can only be tempted in and preserved by quality and character. Dirne: 'The culinary quality is being up-graded. The decoration, the entourage: it will all look a bit more up-market. All this while our prices are 10% below the external competition. It is a quality building, and we have to follow that. The composition of the menu is becoming more refined, the serving staff and the chefs all get a new outfit. If this does not succeed, we ourselves are to blame.'
Interesting detail is that Catering will be the object of an internal investigation into the price/quality ratio as compared to external caterers. This will be done by the Facility Department, to which UT-Catering belongs. Dirne: 'I look forward to this investigation with confidence'.
A completely different story is the establishment of a central kitchen, from which the satellite kitchens in the Bastille and the Faculty Club are served. At the moment the central preparation and supply are done in the Bouwhuis in Lonneker, but this contract expires in the middle of next year and will not be renewed because the Bouwhuis wishes to dismantle this service.
Dirne: 'Our preference is for a central kitchen in the building next to the Faculty Club (popularly known as the 'Schuur' or Barn). Logistically that is the best option by far, but I know: it is a complicated building.'
transl. DvA
