Work EXPERIENCE - carrying on with a Boom

Following on from the first of an ongoing feature starting last month with Bucks Bar, I join the team of Boom Battle Bar Glasgow for the day to experience what it is like to work in the venue, what makes the staff enjoy the venue so much & hear directly from customers why they keep coming back.

Knowing the owners Jack Harrison & Danille Sweeney as I do I was keen to see how their infectious positivity impacted the staff, and in turn the customers of Boom Battle Bar Glasgow and also learn more in a hands on way what staff in venues deal with on a daily basis.

10am and I’m greeted but a familiar smiling face at the entrance, the beaming friendly greeting is from Robyn Galloway GM of the venue ( not top radio dj and host of the Pure Radio breakfast show just incase you got confused he was moonlighting ) and she was proudly displaying my staff tshirt ….. ok so we are off to a great start I thought.

After being introduced to the staff I’d be working with I was given my tasks for my shift.

With customers already waiting to begin their Boom experience there was no messing about, time to get the shirt on and get stuck in.

Firstly I was going to be Co hosting a group of 3 female friends out for a day of fun on the axe throwing and was going to shadow the experienced staff member to go through the rules of engagement before going it alone.

The first thing I noticed was the positive friendly approach of the host that broke the ice with the girls and made the safety brief more engaging and less like a lecture.

I tried to chip in with my loud idiotic sense of humour (which I think helped) clearly trying to make up for my lack of experience with injecting a little random stupidity whilst realising that wasn’t maybe the best thing to do during a saftey briefing on handling axes … so I shut up.

Next up ….. a group of 15 males on a stag do …. So much for starting the easy way.

I was hugely impressed with the hosts ability to keep 15 boisterous men in check politely and still keeping things engaging and fun ( not easy when the stag is wearing a cowboy hat and pink tutu and looks like Cheney from Corry. The professionalism and approach was impressive.

When I spoke to the host afterwards to understand why she chose to join the team She shared that after joining only a few months before after a few other jobs in the hospitality sector she found the fun, friendly atmosphere in the venue a big change, along with the how the staff really act like a family really looking out for each other and supporting each other made a big difference.

On digging a bit deeper she also told me that the flexibility of the senior management to try and accommodate peoples commitments from a family standpoint or from studies was a massive bonus and really made for a closer bond across all of the staff.

This was a common theme on speaking to all of the staff I got a real feeling of togetherness and was glad to hear that also spilled over into their social life where a lot of the team also socialised together which is a testament to a good relationship if you choose to spend downtime together as well.

I was trained on all of the games and loved every one of them especially the shuffle board it’s so addictive and a little competitive (not like me at all)

I also spent time on the bar learning about the cocktails was really impressed with not only the selection of cocktails on offer but also the beers.

On speaking with many customers across the day of all ages from children attending as a family funday to the stags and hens ( hope you enjoyed your night girls ) to a couple celebrating the guys birthday ( and yes of course I had to get the whole venue to sing happy birthday to him much to the astonishment and amusement of the staff ) they all had said the same 2 words in their feedback FUN & FRIENDLY.

I genuinely loved my time learning from the team and it reinforced my respect and admiration for the venue & Jack & Dani in the amazing business they have built.

I’d like to thank the whole team at Boom Battle Bar Glasgow for the fantastic welcome and for putting up with my questions and stupidity and especially a massive thank you to Robyn, Jack & Dani for giving me the opportunity to join the team for the day.