Samuel John Szweda
London,Greater London
Summary
Experienced professional with a strong background in utilizing diverse software and systems, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Outlook, and Microsoft Office Suite. Proficient in advanced tools such as Google Analytics and various hospitality management systems, driving operational efficiency and productivity. Demonstrated leadership in team management and project coordination, with a focus on streamlining processes and enhancing team dynamics. Committed to leveraging technology and strategic planning to achieve business objectives.
Offering strong leadership and problem-solving skills with background in team management and project coordination. Knowledgeable about streamlining processes, improving operational efficiency, and fostering positive team environments. Ready to use and develop skills in strategic planning, communication, and resource management in [Desired Position] role.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
Work history
Operations Manager
Lina Stores
London, Greater London
01.2025 - 09.2025
- Company Overview: White Rabbit Projects
- Leading a patch of 5 restaurants and 2 delis with combined turnover of £15m
- Marylebone (flagship), South Kensington, Kings Cross, Clapham, and Greek Street
- Combined LFL growth of 10.1% (Clapham and Greek Street in double digit decline to flat)
- Implemented new managers training program
- Implemented sports activities as part of my mental health program (football, Sports day, fun run)
- Supported the introduction of All Gravy across all sites
- Implemented weekly line checks to improve poor Drinks GP results
- Added excellence reviews & Sam’s top 10 to maintain standards.
- Collaborated with head of beverage and wine to increase wine and cocktail sales with Italy trip incentive, Clapham won and increased cocktail participation by 2%
- Had a successful pipeline in place with 2 internal AGMS promoted to GM, and 3 AMS to AGM.
- White Rabbit Projects
Senior General Manager
Flat Iron
London, Greater London
01.2024 - 12.2025
- SGM at Flat Iron Westfield – projected turnover for the year £4M
- Developed new team and implemented a structured pipeline
- LFL increase from 3.6% to 17.6% on covers, 22% LFL sales
Operations Manager
Three Joes
Fareham, Winchester, Chichester, Sheffield, Lincol
07.2023 - 01.2024
- Managed 6 restaurants with combined sales of £3.2m of annual turnover
- Restructured whole management team
- Despite struggling sales still managed to cut EBITDA loss BY 20%
- Created centre of excellence role to gain consistency in our training
- Created entire new onboarding and training procedures
- Implemented new system Procure wizard to get better visibility on stock controls and increase COS gps
- Changed menu items to get better products in which were better for guests and drove stronger GP
- Initiated “Price Slice” to drive covers in our restaurants that were struggling which increased covers
- Sadly, as the company was struggling financially the operations role was made redundant.
Senior General Manager
Flat Iron
Covent Garden, London
10.2021 - 07.2023
- After my successful stint at London Bridge I was asked to take over Henrietta Street which was the flagship site with annual turnover of £6.5m
- Took a struggle restaurant in decline back into growth and broke countless records
- Managed a team of 96 people
- Developed my AGM to a GM
- First site was London Bridge which was second busiest in the company £3.6m annual turnover
- Managed a team of 45 people
- Developed two supervisors into assistant managers and one assistant into a assistant general manager
- Achieved record sales of £78.9k and daily of £15k
Senior (multi site) General Manager
Crust Bros Pizza
Waterloo, London
04.2021 - 08.2021
- Reopened site after pandemic to lead team and develop the current general manager
- Opened second site new concept in Wandsworth which was a collaboration with Sambrooks Brewery
- Edited drinks menu to increase drinks GP and efficiency of execution
- Drove business by opening events including our own “delivery” to local pubs and bars
- Two business combined with a turnover £3.1m
Senior General Manager
Honest Burgers
London Bridge, London
12.2018 - 04.2021
- When I re-joined Honest I was in Portobello Road, one of their original restaurants that was struggling, through rebuilding team managed to break sales records that had stood for years (£28.4k in a 45 cover restaurant).
- Managed a team of 16 and succeeded in developing my AM to GM, and one of my grill chefs to sous.
- Increased and maintained Trip advisor (top 300 out of 18,500).
- Shortly after I was asked to take on Bond Street, a brand new Central London site that was struggling with poor conversion due to a poor open.
- Had a complete team restructure and improved sales through better quality food and service.
- Average weekly sales went from £12,7k to £19.4k and achieved a record £21.5k week whilst there.
- After a short time the restaurant had massively improved and heading in the right direction, I was asked to take on the flagship restaurant in Borough.
- In charge of the busiest restaurant in the company with a turnover (pre-covid) of £2.7M.
- Achieved weekly sales of £55k weekly during Christmas.
- Managed to increase spend from £12.7 to £13.4 with some simple menu tweaks.
- Manage a team of 40 including 2 deputies, one assistant and 4 supervisors.
- I have also led the reopening of the restaurant post covid as a delivery business ensuring the highest health and safety standards are complied with, and have managed to achieve sales to £24k whilst having a brand new team around me.
Recruitment
Corecruitment
London, Greater London
08.2018 - 10.2018
- Started working here after closing down Centuno as I felt like I wanted a change.
- But soon realised that sales was not the right role for me and wanted to continue with management.
General/Opening Manager
Centuno
Highgate, London
07.2017 - 08.2018
- Company Overview: Tasty Plc
- Was personally asked to open a new concept for the Tasty Group
- Managed complete opening of this brand new concept
- Developed the menu and wine/cocktail lists
- Developed kitchen team doing authentic Neopolitan style pizza completely from scratch.
- Built entire team (16 in total)
- Developed training, service steps, and managed entire marketing.
- Managed Instagram, TA, Facebook and website pages
- Took the restaurant from opening to £4.5k to £11.2k in a very challenging environment
- Managed to get and maintain a 4.5 TA score and 4.8 Google score
- Tasty Plc
General Manager
The Diner
Spitalfields, Greater London
03.2017 - 07.2017
- Here I managed to stabilise a team that has been mismanaged for ages and get them refocused.
- Managed a team of 40 including Deputy Manager, Assistant Manager, Bar Manager, Head Chef and Sioux.
- Despite growing challenges around the market managed to deliver average weekly sales of £42k – highest week of £58k.
- Added a shake stand to the back of the restaurant to counteract the increase in street food which generated an extra £2k per week sales.
- Mystery Diner average of 89%
Cluster Manager
The Black Lion
West Hampstead, Greater London
01.2016 - 03.2017
- Company Overview: MPCo
- Was drafted to this busy northwest London pub that had been underperforming all year.
- Sales split of 60/40 in favour of liquor.
- Managed a team of 35 including management team of AGM, Restaurant Manager, Bar Manager.
- Managed to push the sales over Christmas and had our busiest week which was £51k (+7.8% lfl on previous year)
- Managed to increase lfl to +3.4% overall for the entire quarter.
- MPCo
Cluster Manager
The Metropolitan
Westbourne Park, Greater London
01.2016 - 03.2017
- Company Overview: Westbourne Park
- Here I have been specifically drafted to troubleshoot a flagship branch which has been underperforming for a number of years not just financially, but also in service and standards.
- In my short tenure here I managed to drive sales through events and new menus, meaning after being £12.7k down on yearly budget sales we were able to finish the year £1.3k up.
- I have managed labour and stock controls to minimise loss to the business and converted some very tough periods.
- Sales split of 80/20 in favour of liquor.
- Managed a team of 15.
- NPS on mystery diners for our last quarter was 60.2%.
- Changed wine and beer lists to suit my customer base.
- I have promoted and marketed the European championships and maximised on sales through a high turnover and increased AVSP – Achieving sales of £27.5k (Average weekly sales £16.5k).
- I also organised and oversaw the running of our Notting Hill Carnival event. Over two days the pub generated £38.5k net revenue and went very smoothly. I took care of all operations leading up to and during the event including increased orders, building a temporary outside bar, finding extra staff, and managing the door to ensure everything was executed flawlessly.
- Westbourne Park
General Manager
Honest Burgers
Tooting
08.2015 - 01.2016
- Here I drove standards and food quality and achieved a record company food safety audit score of 97%.
- Managed a team of 15.
- I have really pushed sales and maximised potential, taking the Tooting branch from doing a steady £12k a week to a consistent £15k by increasing turnover and AVSP.
- I have developed a completely new management and floor team whilst keeping service standards and mystery diners at the highest levels.
- Marketed the branch by doing a pop-up festival in a nearby pub called Tootopia, we sold sliders and generated and extra £2k net for the business and made a lot more people in Tooting aware of us.
Venue Manager
Everyman Cinema
Maida Vale
02.2015 - 08.2015
- In my role as a Venue Manager my main focus has been to drive customer service whilst showing great films with quality food.
- Whilst doing this I have also been able to achieve great mystery diner scores whilst controlling Labour and COS to ensure Maximum profitability for the brand.
- I have also ensured the highest food standards are met, which is demonstrated in the only audit score I’ve had to date, which was 93%.
General Manager
Byron Hamburgers
Oxford Circus
09.2014 - 02.2015
- Throughout my time at Byron Oxford Circus I have:
- Taken mystery diners from an average of 79% to 87%.
- Ensured safe food and maintained the highest of standards demonstrated in my audits, including a score of 96%.
- Managed a team of 45.
- Controlled labour and COS to increase GP and EBITDA.
- Carried out detailed P+L analysis on a monthly basis.
- Achieved record sales of £49.5k.
General Manager
Byron Hamburgers
Spitalfields
09.2013 - 08.2014
- Throughout my time at Byron Spitalfields I have:
- Increased the average of mystery diners from 85% to 89% and at the end of the financial year Spitalfields was third in the company overall for best mystery diner results.
- Managed a team of 25.
- Ensured safe food and maintained the highest of standards demonstrated in my audits, including a score of 98%.
- Carried out detailed P+L Analysis on a monthly basis.
- Controlled Labour and COS to increase GP and EBITDA.
- Achieved record sales of £29k.
Deputy Manager
Byron Hamburgers
Wardour Street
11.2012 - 09.2013
Assistant Manager
Byron Hamburgers
Charing Cross
01.2012 - 11.2012
Waiter
Byron Hamburgers
Covent Garden
04.2011 - 01.2012
Various Roles
Pizza Express
06.2005 - 04.2011
- Here I worked in a number of different roles from waiter to chef, and also did some supervising.
- I worked in a variety of south coast restaurants mainly around the Brighton & Hove area.
- I did a lot of front and back of house training to ensure the highest standards were met, it also helped me develop great people skills.
Skills
- Internet Explorer
- Google Chrome
- Safari
- Outlook
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Google Analytics
- TMS (Theatre Management System)
- Fourth Hospitality
- Fourth Analytics
- Fourth FNB Shop
- Aztec Finance
- Viewbase
- WBO System
- Comtrex Systems
- Yapster
- Workplace
- Google Workspace
- All Gravy
- Pro Nett
- Asana
- Lightyear
- Point One
- Chat GPT
Personal Information
Date of birth: 1987-06-17
References
I have a list of reputable references which are all available on request.
Hobbies and Interests
- I love sport, particularly football and tennis
- I have a passion for great food and beer/wine
- I love to travel
- I also love to play guitar and was in a fairly successful band that played shows all over Europe
Timeline
Operations Manager
Lina Stores
01.2025 - 09.2025
Senior General Manager
Flat Iron
01.2024 - 12.2025
Operations Manager
Three Joes
07.2023 - 01.2024
Senior General Manager
Flat Iron
10.2021 - 07.2023
Senior (multi site) General Manager
Crust Bros Pizza
04.2021 - 08.2021
Senior General Manager
Honest Burgers
12.2018 - 04.2021
Recruitment
Corecruitment
08.2018 - 10.2018
General/Opening Manager
Centuno
07.2017 - 08.2018
General Manager
The Diner
03.2017 - 07.2017
Cluster Manager
The Black Lion
01.2016 - 03.2017
Cluster Manager
The Metropolitan
01.2016 - 03.2017
General Manager
Honest Burgers
08.2015 - 01.2016
Venue Manager
Everyman Cinema
02.2015 - 08.2015
General Manager
Byron Hamburgers
09.2014 - 02.2015
General Manager
Byron Hamburgers
09.2013 - 08.2014
Deputy Manager
Byron Hamburgers
11.2012 - 09.2013
Assistant Manager
Byron Hamburgers
01.2012 - 11.2012
Waiter
Byron Hamburgers
04.2011 - 01.2012
Various Roles
Pizza Express
06.2005 - 04.2011