elior.co.uk

Lexington Catering / Elior UK

I was working for Lexington, which is a caterer brand owned by Elior. I have more than a decade of experience in hospitality and have never seen worse management than Lexington's. The General Manager of my site was disrespectful, unsupportive and unable to manage a team. They were never there for one reason or another, most of the time nowhere to be seen! Either holidays (clearly more than 28 days per year excluding bank holidays) or they were sick, or their child's sick, or the train strike, and so on. Statistically, I'd say 3 out of 5 working days there was an excuse to stay home / not work at all. When they're there (usually late and NEVER for a full shift) they brought darkness and negativity, so eventually I've started to appreciate being left alone without help or support. This is a pattern you can see often in Lexington. My team and I didn't have even one performance review or 1-2-1 in more than 2 years (until I resigned, otherwise it would be longer), that means they won't give you a chance to shine or to grow or to develop your skills, no matter how hard you work or how well you performed. It's disheartening to work hard just to not receive anything, not even a bonus, because in Lexington you're not entitled to one. Exactly, no bonus, no reward and no development. What should motivate you to go to work for them? Unless the one and only reason is money, or you're happy to work as a robot with no will and no gratification. This situation became quite frustrating, especially when my manager employed their partner and quickly promoted them to a prominent role within our team, even though they were clearly not ready and there was much needed training to do. This includes health and safety, or food safety training. I am not saying that person didn't deserve it, they weren't ready just yet, but they had the opportunity just because of their private relationship. What about everyone else? What about people that spent a long time in the company or the ones actually bringing amazing results? And I don't even want to start talking about the drama my team and I had to witness, because imagine a married couple living and working together? I truly learnt the meaning of unhealthy and toxic work environments. There were many other things happening, I just wanted to share some bits about my experience. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to speak freely of what I was feeling, and what was happening, to anyone, and never really contacted HR because I was scared it'd backfire and create more issues for me (quick note about them: the previous HR manager was a shark, I remember that during a training session she was telling a story about a guy they screwed really hard by mistake and he ended up resigning, she was giggling remembering about it). It's easy to understand that Lexington won't do anything for you or for your well-being, that's why they have a huge staff turnover, and have never seen anything like this before. The general manager is aware of this, and their response is: everyone's replaceable🤡 (which is 90% true, but you don't say that to your hard-working team, especially if you are so unprofessional and absent. Basic good manners should teach you that) Is this the person you'd like to work for? I recommend this company only if you're desperate for money or if you don't have any plan for your own development.There are also some pros:- They operate as catering services for corporate clients so you get to enjoy the Mon to Fri week, and all weekends and bank holidays off.- Sometimes you get to negotiate a decent salary, and focus on the word negotiate. They need you more than you will ever need them.

Date of experience: Mar 01, 2024