Tearoom Manager – Furzey Gardens

Tearoom Manager – Furzey Gardens

Location: Minstead, Hampshire
Hours: 37.5 hours per week (including weekends)
Salary: £28,002 per annum

Make a difference every day through hospitality

We’re looking for an experienced and motivated Tearoom & Gift Shop Manager to lead our busy, customer-focused social enterprise at Furzey Gardens.

This is a unique opportunity to combine your passion for hospitality with meaningful, purpose-led work—supporting people who are neuro-disabled (including autism and learning disabilities) to develop skills, confidence, and independence in a safe and inclusive environment.

About the Role

As Tearoom Manager, you’ll be responsible for the smooth day-to-day running of our Tearoom and Gift Shop, ensuring a high-quality customer experience while driving income to support the Trust’s work. You’ll lead a dedicated team, create a welcoming environment for visitors, and play a key role in delivering opportunities for people we support to learn and thrive.

Key Responsibilities

Business & growth:

• Drive sales and identify opportunities to increase income
• Promote the Tearoom through social media, events, and seasonal campaigns
• Develop creative offers, menus, and fundraising ideas to attract visitors and encourage return visits

Customer experience:

• Provide a warm, friendly and inclusive welcome to all visitors
• Maintain high standards of service, food quality, and presentation
• Support customer engagement, reviews, and overall experience

Team leadership:

• Lead, motivate and manage staff and volunteers
• Plan rotas in line with budgets and trading levels
• Support the training and development of people with learning disabilities

Operations & catering:

• Oversee food preparation, hygiene, and food safety standards
• Maintain a 5-star Food Hygiene rating
• Manage stock control and kitchen operations

Financial management:

• Monitor sales, costs and profitability
• Manage daily cash handling and banking
• Work with finance teams on budgets and reporting

Compliance & collaboration:

• Ensure health & safety and licensing compliance
• Work collaboratively with teams across the organisation
• Support events and other sites where needed

About you:

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Experienced in hospitality, catering or food retail management
• A confident and supportive leader with strong people management skills
• Passionate about delivering excellent customer service
• Organised, proactive and commercially aware
• Able to remain calm and focused in a busy environment
• Motivated by making a positive difference

Desirable:

• Experience working with vulnerable adults or people with learning disabilities