The Barn Brasserie – I Will Never Eat There Again
Well 2009 ended with a pretty bad experience as I realised what went on at The Barn Brasserie in Great Tey, Essex.
I like to eat at good restaurants and enjoy my food, after a couple of lacklustre meals at the Barn Brasserie I realised that the quality of service had dramatically dropped to a level that was no longer acceptable, indeed the quality of my meal was pretty poor too.
I decided to ask questions as to why the decline and was shocked with what I uncovered, I always believe that a business is only as good as its staff, after all my own business has gone from 12 people to 65 people in a recession and is doubling in size annually. This is achieved through incentivised staff getting really good people in and then getting the best out of them, its a fundamental aspect of any business that is successful.
On the surface one would expect there to be a higher rate of churn in the restaurant trade than in others, The Barn Brasserie is no exception there but a closer look reveals disturbing practices. My questions uncovered an endemic core of bad practices which not only prevent staff from fulfilling promising careers but also undermines the service a top restaurant should deliver.
The truth is that my last visit has led me to believe The Barn has plummeted to the level of a “very average diner” with rude staff and an uncomfortable level of tension in the atmosphere, in short the Barn Brasserie is not what it used to be.
I believe that this is due to the following factors.
- Wages almost half the minimum wage
- Poor working environment
- Very unhappy staff
- Bullying
- Bad staff administration
- Staff expectations annulled
- Constructive dismissal policy for anyone who complains
- Rude and intimidating managers who refuse to sort out staff issues
This accounts for a high staff churn that runs alongside a company doctrine that fails to value and recognise employee efforts and commitment, whilst the industry may appear to be run in this way on television the reality is that top restaurants have to value their staff and reward them at least with their contracted salaries.
So where does The Barn go from here, well certainly the proprietors should either train or remove the managers responsible for the way they are running the HR and the employment practices. It is my guess that the actual owners of the Barn would be horrified to learn how their loyal chefs and waitresses are treated, concern should also be focussed on why many customers are unhappy with their Barn experience.
If my business churned so many staff so frequently I would be absolutely horrified and feel that there was failure in the whole process.
I will wait perhaps a year before trying the barn again but no longer will I use it for important business events or for relaxed family and friend get-togethers.
One particular ex member of staff is now pursuing the minimum wage issue and others are indicating they are going to join in with the complaint, this could lead to a vigorous investigation by the authorities who will also look at other employment practices utilised by The Barn Brasserie that are outside of employee statutory rights.
For the sake of other budding chefs and service personnel I hope that The Barn Brasserie in Great Tey, Essex will adopt a better approach to what is their most precious asset – their Staff. Until that happens it will be high quality restaurants such as The Boathouse in Dedham or the Lemon Tree in Colchester where I spend my money and entertain my guests and business colleagues.
The Boathouse Dedham Reservations – 01206 323 153
Just been back to The Barn on sunday 6th nov after a 2 year gap. Service good from our young waiter but we arrived at 1.00 with a reservation and didnt get away until 4.00. Every time I go the wait to get anything is so slow. We got free sorbets between starter and main and an apology from the water but NOT from any senior staff. We were told they had 27 booked and 60+ turned up. They seem incapable of dealing with any large numbers. When the main arrived it was just about hot enough not to complain. My wifes couscous was dry so was the sea bass.
This absolutely our last visit and we will tell ALL our friends and sites like this.
Terry
Hi Jo,
Yes there have been many negative statements about the Barn, of course I hope your event goes smoothly and they do a good job and make your day special. If this thread has been responsible for them upping their staff care then that is a positive thing.
have your wedding and enjoy it, then if it goes well I will be happy to put your post on here and again if it doesn’t I will still be happy to post it so long as it is genuine.
Good Luck
Good grief what a lot of bad comments for the barn brasserie!
My future husband and i went there for dinner in February this year to celebrate valentines day. I thought the barn itself was beautiful. I found the staff to be friendly and accomodating. I loved the food. I commented about what a perfect venue it would be for a wedding. With that thought in mind when we got engaged, we enquired at the barn, we were thrilled with the package we were offered and have booked our wedding there in April 2012. After reading some of these reviews we are now of course very anxious about what our big day holds! After saving very hard and planning our perfect wedding, I really am crossing everything that all of these reviews are wrong and that our day will go smoothly.
Hi there, I totally agree, how the owners can keep Chris Corke there is beyond me, he has no business acumen and cannot manage employees with any credibility, his management skills centre on intimidation but really he is just abusing a position that he should not hold.
That said if the owners do not believe that poor staff retention is a refelection on their business then they must support the methods used.
I am glad you have gone on to better things and you are not alone as many ex employees of the Barn Brasserie have found that their experience there is not a true refelction on the industry.
I started work at the barn way back in 2001 as a kitchen porter (at the age of just 14)
And by the sounds of things nothing much has changed from way back then to now.
When i was there i worked 60 hours plus many weeks , was always paid cash and never got proper wage slips.
I was there for 3 years on and off whilst at college and in that time i must have seen 10 new staff members monthly. The turnover of staff is by far the highest i have ever come across in the industry in 10 years !
I know people who have worked there recently , including a head chef and its still run just as badly. Mr Corke is by far the most arrogant , self important idiot working in the Essex area in the industry. And as far as i can see does nothing for his huge salary , even back in 2001-2003 i never witnessed him actually work on the floor or expedite the pass in the kitchen… i would question if he actually has any on the job experience in the catering industry.
I just feel very sorry for the couple that own the Barn as having met them on several occasions they are very nice people and its just such a shame they beautiful venue is being ruined by the total incompetence and terrible man management skills of Chris Corke.
I have since worked in a 5 star hotel , and two other local restaurants at management level and none of the venues could be compared in anyway. The barn is run like no other and it shows in the outrage and comments of x-staff and customers alike.
Lets hope something is done as it could be a great place to visit….. sadly its not any more.
Well Jan you obviously are motivated by some type of pro Barn Brasserie publicity so perhaps they give you free meals or something but let me put one or two facts straight for you.
1 – I have NOT EDITED your email, I didnt publish it because I wanted to respond to such an obvious and blatant pro barn statement, and as you can see your latest email is exactly how you compiled it with nothing changed. I do take very seriously your allegation that I tampered with your email content – clearly I don’t.
2 – Yours is the first comment I have ever received that was a positive comment for the Barn Brasserie, I have had at least 25 comments that were too emotive to publish and as you can see from the many that are published there are NO positive ones.
3 – I have eaten at The Barn myself and so I can speak from personal experience.
4 – Many of the comments here are made by ex staff, there has historically been a very poor staff retention with just one or two ‘favourites’ plus Chris Corke staying the course. The ex staff members complaints were very serious and very real, exploitation of young and vulnerable workers is the lowest of the low in business and I am shocked that you support it. Certainly the authorities took it very seriously.
5 – It was HMRC who stepped in to investigate the wage structure after a history of staff complaints and found that some people were being paid almost half the minimum wage and having to work rediculous hours for such a pittance – you have a very simplistic view here if you can blandly say that the minimum wage is to be expected since the staff were not even getting that and this does not apply just to waitresses but also to chefs. Those that were not being exploited were the likes of Chris Corke and his favourites.
I find your stance pompous and crass to just sweep away everything that people have complained about, you are also very arrogant to assume you even remotely appreciate and understand what went on here, you rubbish the rights of young vulnerable people and support the bullying establishment that sacked people who complained, I know of one person sacked because he wanted extra money to work a long shift on Christmas day – an industry standard.
In addition it is laughable for you to imagine you know more than Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise when it comes to these matters – The Barn Brasserie were forced to pay people their rightful back pay – money that was earned fairly by sheer hard work, many of these people had long left the Barn by the time they got their payout!!!
Maybe the new staff are happier because the Barn NOW has to pay them real wages now instead of third world salaries??? That said some of the comments are recent so maybe not much has changed.
I say shame on you Jan Thomas, you are more than welcome to your seat there.
Had another meal at the Barn Brasserie today – beautiful. The service was better than any top class restaurant I have been to. The food was, as usual, excellent. Being mindful of the above comments I did notice the staff were very happy and I recognise staff as having been there for a number of years. (my daughter worked as a waitress and for the record – I understand minimum wage is usual for waiting on tables. Sorry guys – I still cannot fault the place and thoroughly recommend it.
PS. I am somewhat concerned that the comments made by myself last month WERE EDITED. Therefore, I assume that any of the above comments or those submitted not favourable to your cause are intrerferred with.
Im sad that staff are still having a raw deal at the Barn Brasserie, after they had to pay out wages to those they cheated I would have thought they would of learnt their lesson. Chris Corke – an excuse for a manager thats for sure, imagine how good the restaurant could be if it was run properly. I wish youluck with your legal process and don’t give up- we got justice
dont even get it started on this place, i worked there for about a month and i really wish i would have never, chris corke thinks he is clever!!! he is a liar and a bully and i cant wait for my solicitor to deal with him…… he is in for a major shock…… and as for one of the “managers” nikki, what a joke of a manager she is, mind you chris is trying to get rid of her too….. SO I HOPE YOU SEE THIS……..
i think that it is very sad that one persons actions could ruin a business like he has. i say out with chris chorke and in with someone new, he couldnt even run the food company( i think it was called that) that went bust!!! i wonder why!!! im glad im not the only one that had probs with working there……..
When i started working at the barn I thought everyone was nice, It was my first job so i didn’t really know what to expect.
However, after a while I realised how horrible it was. I didn’t feel welcome and Chris Corke the manager was extremly rude. He never spoke to us except to shout at people. He even told someone off for holding a bottle of water “incorrectly” :S
The worst thing though has to be the tips. I would about 15-20 hours a week and only recieve £2 in tips which is ridiculous considering every customer is charged service charge. Some rack up bills so expensive that the service charge comes to over £200. Surely with service charge that large I would have recieved more than £2???!
No. Because it all goes to the managers.
I don’t know about everyone else but when I go to a restaurant I tip THE WAITORS/WAITRESSES. I want the tip to go evenly to everyone and definatly not just to the managers.
I now work elsewhere and I couldn’t be happier. TWhere I work the tips are shared evenly and everyone is lovle.y. No one thinks of themselves as better because they have worked there longer.
Never go to the barn. Never tip there. Never work there.
This is my first time i visit here. I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles I can see that many past employees of the barn brasserie in great tey are angry about their treatment. The barn brasserie management should take action to ensure their staff are happy, I guess I am not the only one having this view either! keep up the good work.
Very well written and really useful. I’m glad you took the time to publish this since it was really helpful. I stopped going to the Barn Brasserie after three bad meals on the trot, I would not recommend them to anybody anymore, standards are poor and service worse.
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I worked there in 2006 for around 1 year and I decided not to be contracted but to be hourly paid so I always got at least minimum wage. They loved me at first and then offered me a promotion and then a 5p an hour pay rise for it….which is ridiculous and i turned it down. They then rather than sacking me as I hadn’t done anything wrong just decreased my hours to such an extent that I had to leave to pay my rent. I know that they have done this to other people to get rid of them through reasons such as looks, height or just personal grievances which had nothing to do with a persons comptence to do the job. It is ridiculous haing to work on your day off. The christmas I worked I had a half day off a week for 6 weeks and would have to put my phone on silent during this time or I would be harrassed with phone calls. I am glad they have gone bust…the idiot Corke deserves it!!!
I was working at The Forum when it closed down. I am currently taking them to the employment tribuneral because I never recieved my notice or holiday pay. Apparently they don’t have any money!
I worked at the Barn for around a year on and off in 2006-2007 before moving to The Food Factory, first as a waiter then as assitant restaurant manager. Pay was never an issue but the bullying was, i have seen at least 80-100 staff walk out or not turn up for work because of this. Chris Corke doesnt listen, just shouts and screams until people are in tears and walk out, including myself, It got to a point where i couldn’t go to work without feeling sick and in the end, after a 15 minute berating over the phone, i couldn’t take anymore and walked out during a shift. I have worked in alot of restaurants and Cafe’s in and around colchester and i’ve never seen this in any of them, its a disgrace that the Barn has gotten away with this for so long! Micheal Xenakis is an ok man, but he really needs to sort out the Barn.
Im going back for the first time in May for a wedding and im dreading how it wil go because of the money my friends have paid for it. I just know that its going to be a shambles!
And lets be honest, is it really a surprise that The Food Factory is now closed!!!!!!!
i worked at the barn for about a year it put me off workin in restaurants. The pay was a joke, and the tips where less. Anyone goin there should realise that tips dont go to staff but to the company…or managers pockets. Its very unprofessional the general manager chris corke xxxx xxxx x xxx xx xxx waitress’s…im sure the xenakis’s arnt aware…but when you see the amount of complaints made they have to act.
Hi to you all,
I am very pleased with the response and especially Mat your advice is very good. I will encourage those who have lost money to take action against the owners.
It is interesting that an associated business ‘the forum’ has gone bust and that has both the owner of the Barn Brasserie and Chris Corke involved.
I have been contacted by the BBC over claims that the Forum owes couples for wedding deposits they made and have now lost both the venue and their money.
It is not suprising therefore that the Barn Brasserie treats people like this. I for one beleive that if you do not pay the minimum wage and in addition do not file correct earnings on P45 tax documents then you are indeed short changing National Insurance contributions and employers contribution tax and also where did the PAYE money go?
I think that this will go further and am amazed that Michael Xenakis has not stepped in to resolve this before it gets progressed with authorities.
This is a reply to all staff who have worked at the Barn Brasserie and have been badly treated. I have read the comments and believe that you should all take action against your employers. The Barn is a business and employer and they are not above the law. For those employees who have had unlawful deductions from their wages or they have failed to received the minimum wage YOU CAN MAKE A CLAIM AT THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL. Importantly, there is no qualifying time period, (IE you don’t have to work for your employer for One year continuouly. The claim you are making is that you have been paid less than the NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE and YOU ARE SEEKING EITHER A CLAIM FOR UNLAWFUL DEDUCTIONS FROM WAGES OR FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT. On such a claim, it not up to the employee to prove that they were paid less, but for the EMPLOYER TO PROVE THAT THEY DID PAY YOU AT THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE. I suggest that any employee who feels that Barn Brasserie have failed to pay them the minimum wage then go to your local CAB and ask for advice on making a claim under the PROVISIONS OF THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE ACT 1998, SECTION 1. Also, if you are collective you may try informing the Barn Brasserie of your intentions and suggest that the matter can be resolved by a fair settlement. Shlould they reject the suggestion of settlement remind them that should you go to the employment tribunal the publicity will damage their business. When you make your claim at the Employment Tribunal Bring your Claim against the Owner of the Brasserie. If you are not sure find out through public records.
I hope this above information helps, and I am appalled that the Barn brasserie believes that it can get away with treating employees in such an disrespectful manner. Good Luck.
I was a KP at the Barn Brasserie and I can tell you i would never of worked there if I had been warned by this blog, my experience was one of bullying and shouting by management, I got paid in cash and not at a proper rate either, I was told I would get one rate and then when I complained I was told to just get on with it.
Of course I left and now I get treated properly, there are lots of people who worked there and left because of this.
KP – now happy
hi
i was reading shaun parkers colomn about chris corke and the barn brasserie, and this has interested me very much.
i am also a past employee, i was there for only 2 months until i realised how bad the place was, i have since worked at 3 very good local restaurants and just been working in london for a well known chef, and i gained alot of experience and knowledge.
i am know back in the area and am a head chef, its going very well but it could have gone wrong when i went to the barn brasserie and if you look at my cv, the barn looks out of place but i was young and thought it would have been a good place to work.
anyway, please contact me, it would be good to hear from someone else who has clearly had bad experiences, and i would also like you to come to my restaurant and hopefully you will enjoy it,
contact me on my e mail address or phone number 07880941337
nick@thegreatpubcompany.co.uk
I have worked for the barn recently over the hoildays and I know who left the comment number 7. She was treated dreadfully and asked to work on her day off for no money! Comment number 8 was from her brother who worked hard and Chris Corke should of demanded he got his job back. Concerned of colchester should believe everything you have read and act accordingly!!
michelle
This is amazing how do they get away with it.
Surely the authorities would act, we live in a time where people should be protected from rogue employers.
I cannot imagine that Michael Xenakis knows this is going on, he should get involved and make sure these poor young people get their proper pay after all he is a millionaire, or is this how he made his money??
I am an ex employee and was forced to leave becuase I asked for more money for Christmas day, they told me I was to work a 12 hour shift on Christmas day and would only pay me £50 for the day, I had been promised a better rate of pay for Christmas Day and New Years Day.
When I raised thie issue I was told to leave the premises immediately as said I didnt want to but just wanted a fair days pay for Christmas day, I had just worked 13 straight days in December including my days off.
Anyway, I got my wages late and when I looked at my payslip the Barn Brasserie had paid me just £340 for 16 days work with long hours, when I do the maths it works out at less than £3 an hour.
How do they get away with this???
During my time there I was bullied and shouted at and anybody who raised any issue about not getting the minimum wage was ordered to leave the premises.
Its disgraceful and should be stopped.
By not paying me the minimum wage they are avoiding tax and national insurance so effectively breaking the law.
They get away with it because they fire everybody who complains before 1 years employment that way they do not have to comply with any protective employment legislation.
I cannot wait to see an investigation into their tax affairs, maybe they will be forced to pay me for the hours I worked….
I got forced to leave at the start of December because I went in on my day off to attend a staff meeting and was told to clean the bar, I said I wanted to be paid as it was my day off and the manager yelled at me. In the end I was told to leave the premises immediately and not come back.
3 weeks later I had a letter saying as I left the premises they would take that as my resignation which meant I was unable to claim any money to tide me over until I could get a new job (I am a single mum) I was also obligated to pay my child care for the whole of December when I had no money to spare.
They just sent me my P45 after weeks of asking, I was told to go and collect it and got on a bus with my child and travelled all the way there only to be told they were too busy to print it off.
It arrived in the post and guess what… It says that in 3 months of employment that they only paid me £330 when I was earning over £250 per week!!
Where has all the tax gone that they deducted and the National Insurance too, my wage slips show all this information and yet it is not listed on my P45 I am contacting the tax office.
Disgusted Ex Employee
I turned up on a spontaneous visit two nights running (I only live round the corner) and the Barn Brasserie was shut!!! Seems strange for it to be closed?
I went to a soul night and the singer was a pub singer by the sound of it, meal was OK.
If I wanted to do Karaoke or listen to it I would of gone to a pub – only a good one!! At least in a pub the staff would be friendly too.
My meal was cold and I had the wrong starter, the manager was very uncompromising and the waitresses were miserable.
crossing it off my list after 5 years and going elsewhere.
David – Businessman
Never been myself but thats because I’ve heard such bad rumours, this just confirms my suspicions. Especially from the ex-employee’s comment.
I worked at the Barn in Great Tey and was treated badly, it has put me off the industry, staff are expected to clean on days off, but worst of all when you complain they tell you to leave the premises and then pretend you have resigned.
The Barn tell you that because you left it is technically your confirmation of resignation, of course it is not.
When a senior manager at the Barn Brasserie tells you to get off the premises you have no choice but to do exactly that.
The owners should be ashamed, it should not be just about profits, people should get a fair days wage for a days hard work.
When I was there so many staff were forced out of the barn and yet it is never questioned. I was paid well below the minimum wage and in the end it was a relief to be forced out.