“No matter how large the budget or numerous the team delivering an event, it’s the planning which matters”
Daniel Gill is the founder and creative director of Dine, which manages exclusive catering venues as well as offering event management and catering services. He was immersed in everything to do with hospitality from a very early age, having parents who ran a Michelin-starred restaurant in Leeds. After finishing his education at Edinburgh University, Gill went on to train in London and worked at locations as diverse as the Natural History Museum, No.10 & No.11 Downing Street, V&A Museum, the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace. On returning to Leeds in 1998 he set up Dine, and has since then gone on to hold contracts with organisations as diverse as English Heritage and The National Trust and owners of some of the UK’s most notable private houses.
Understanding what our clients want from hosting their event or party is one of the best things about the job, after that we work on all the details to ensure that their overall objectives are achieved – and seeing their ambitions realised never gets old.
2020 has thrown countless challenges at us but we were fortunate to be thinking of the future back in 2017 when we launched DineDelivered.co.uk. Looking to 2021 and beyond we’re excited about DineDelivered.co.uk and the ability to deliver hospitality and virtual events all over the UK and grow on the demand we’ve seen this year. But we’re also excited to return to our beautiful venues as they offer privacy and security for hosting corporate events and retreats, not to mention some long over due private celebrations and weddings!
Covid-19 has impacted everyone but one of the main challenges for many in hospitality will be recruiting and retraining people. Dine has been successful in maintaining the strength and breadth of our team; after all the experience of our event managers and chefs is what we ultimately rely on to deliver memorable events for our clients. However, we know that many hospitality businesses have not been able to maintain their teams in the same way.
The last decade has seen all service businesses focus on how clients might want to purchase their product and what they might want the service to look and feel like. We’re no different and the launch of DineDelivered.co.uk was the result of a change in the way some clients wanted to buy hospitality. Equally, our move into exclusive venues and accommodation has been about securing the best experience for our clients.
Dine’s mission is to ‘Make Every Event Special’. It’s as simple as understanding why our client is having an event, what they want to see and feel on the day and to work very hard on every detail to make sure that’s what they get!
I was lucky enough to work for some stellar event companies in London; but no matter how large the budget or numerous the team delivering an event, it’s the planning which matters – get that right and your team can focus on delivering the details which are most important to the client. Every outside event we do has a scale drawing for a kitchen area, power ratings, team briefings, hire checklists and production sheets to make sure that the basics never catch us out.
In truth, my parents were the people who taught me the most – they ran a Michelin-starred restaurant in Yorkshire called ‘Pool Court’, so an understanding of how to create a fantastic experience became second nature. After them it would have to be my boss in London who worked directly for the Sainsbury’s, Saatchis, Rothschilds and many others, his attention to detail, energy and creativity are legendary.
Away from the office (or our venues) a simple walk or cycle ride is often my key to relaxation as we are lucky enough to live close to Roundhay Park. Other than that you may occasionally be find restoring antique items for our venues as well.
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