RAI President Update – Anthony Gray

So I’m a month into the job and learning a lot. I must say it’s been a very enjoyable month which has flown!

Where do I start? It’s been busy.

I was delighted to be a guest speaker at the Management Programme in Athlone IT as well as a guest speaker at Sligo IT for their annual marketing conference. I also attended my first HOTREC General assembly in Luxembourg which, I must say was very interesting and informative.

We dispatched the Regionals in each province and they were a great success.  The work the office team and Adrian carry out to ensure these events run smoothly is outstanding. The judging is over, the votes are cast and I hope you have your suits and gúnas picked. The 7th Annual Irish Restaurant Awards will be held on the 25th May in the Hilton Double Tree in Ballsbridge. I hope you have your tickets as last year a lot of people were disappointed not because they didn’t win an award but they left it too late and the event sold out.  Get your tickets early!
Many hours of planning and preparation are invested in ensuring the Irish Restaurant Awards are a success for our industry and we would like to thank you, our sponsors and suppliers for your participation and dedication to the awards process.

As we head in to the summer season we will be putting together our Budget 2015/ 16 lobbying campaign which I would encourage us all as members to get behind the first step is completing the survey on the Cost of doing Business.  We’d appreciate just two minutes of your time! The Restaurants Association of Ireland play a major part in assisting in our survival as restaurateurs. While it is fair to expect us as restaurateurs to continue fighting our everyday battles, the association through effective lobbying can and does fight our corner for a fair and just environment in which to work and survive these challenging times. We will be calling upon you our members to assist us.

The first Golf outing took place in Carton House with 30 players and  our next event is Shiva’s captains day which  takes place on the 11th May in Edmondstown Golf club. We have several more golf outings throughout the year which you can find out about here
Wishing you a great season ahead,
President Anthony Gray.