A small and simple rundown of the job roles that make the best bars seem effortless to the customer…

 Floortender

The floortenders role is often regarded as the least important or least cool job in a bar. It is however equally as important as the other roles. The average customer spends only 10% of their time at the bar being served by a bartender. The rest of their time is spent Front of House (FoH) in the customer area. The floortenders role is to look after the customer area. It is therefore essential the floortender provides the highest level of service as it is likely they will make the biggest difference to a customers’ experience… how many times have you gone to sit at a table and realised the previous customer has spilt a drink on the table and their glasses haven’t been cleared… what impression does this give to you as a customer??? Floortenders should not be in the back room for prolonged periods of time as there may have been a spillage, breakage or glassware which needs collecting. The floortender is responsible for the following tasks:

• Clearing glasses from tables and the customer area
• Wiping tables after the customer has left and the glasses have been cleared
• Ensuring the toilets are kept to the highest standards
• Clearing any empty glasses from the smoking area, emptying & cleaning ashtrays and wiping tables in the smoking area on a regular basis
• Sweeping up any breakages in the customer area – with the ‘claims culture’ we now live in this is essential as if a customer falls onto broken glass your company could face a hefty court case and you would most likely lose your job
• Mopping up any spillages on the floor & placing a wet floor sign above the spillage. (Again see above re compensation claims!!)

 Bar Back

The bar back role is the hardest role in any bar, but without one bars simply wouldn’t run. It is the bar backs’ job to provide the bartenders with everything they need to be able to serve quality drinks to the customer. The bar back is the communication point between the bar and the floor. If the bar are running low on Collins glasses, the bartenders will inform the bar back, who will then inform the floortenders so they can concentrate on getting as many Collins glasses as possible over the next few floor runs they do. The bar back is responsible for the following tasks:

• Washing the glasses collected by the floortenders and replacing them on the bar
• Replenishing stations with ice
• Replenishing stations with cut fruit
• Replenishing stations with citrus juice
• Replenishing stations with fruit juice
• Restocking bottle fridges with the labels facing forward. When restocking fridges the bar back should not wait for the fridge to be empty. Move all the cold bottles to one side and fill the gap with bottles from the cellar or the cool room (whichever your bar uses). This way the bartender can always serve a cold beer to the customer without having to reach to the back of the fridge to get a cold one
• Restocking each stations bar caddy with long straws, sip straws & bev naps
• Changing the bin on the bar for an empty one if it becomes too full
• Replacing any empty spirit bottles for the bar. If a bottle is placed on the back bar with a pourspout, in the bar back must get a new bottle from the spirit store & replace it on the back bar or in the appropriate speedrail. If there is no pourspout in the bottle the bartender will have already replaced it from the back up stock from underneath the bar.
• Changing kegs/postmix/gas in the cellar. Cellars are very dangerous places and no member of staff should attempt any of the above activities unless they have completed the cellar training course which your employer should provide.

 Bartender

As a bartender you become the face of the business as you are likely to be the first person a customer comes into contact with when they enter. First impressions count, so make sure yours is a good one!!! You must always be smartly dressed, well groomed, hair tidy and have high levels of personal hygiene. Each bartender must provide the high service expectations we outlined above. Bartenders are responsible for the following tasks:

• Giving customers the highest standard of service
• Serving the highest quality drinks to each customer
• Ensuring the bar top is kept clean and dry at all times
• Serving every drink on a bev nap (beer mat)
• Serving every bottle and draught product with the branding facing the customer