Club Policy on Caffe Parma & Spinning Studio

Apologies if you have already got this info on club policy via our mail chimp and if you haven't please contact info@glasgowwestern.co.uk to have your name added to the mailchimp list. Many Thanks Caffe Parma / Spinning /Club Policy Caffe Parma Great news for the club that our membership is on the increase which has been helped in no small part due to Caffe Parma. The Caffe has been helping to promote the club re our January offer by giving out small flyers with every bill. We actually gained 20 new gym members in January alone compared to a normal number of about 10. This is certainly helping increase membership bringing in a much higher footfall to the club than previously. Spring and summer could be very busy! We are very grateful for all of your feedback about Caffe Parma. It’s been great to hear so many positive views of our club’s continuous improvement. Some of your feedback has focussed on how we might best share our club with Caffe Parma and spinning studio colleagues and customers. We felt it would be helpful to clarify as a committee the club’s policy on these areas. Following consultation with all of the committee we have all agreed as follows: 1/ Caffe Parma staff using club changing facilities/toilets/lockers. We have an agreement with Caffe Parma that their staff can use the changing rooms and a few of them do but never to the extent that they dominate the area or utilise all of the lockers. (Security issues have been raised but we don't feel that this is an issue ie we trust them). The only exception to this would be on a Wednesday during the squash season from 6.30 -10pm when they would be allowed to access the toilets but not the changing areas. (too busy with team players) New lockers will be fitted near the cafe kitchen which will be used by the staff in the near future. 2/ Food smells and noise coming from the kitchen in corridor at squash court 1 A new door has being fitted in the corridor to help reduce any food smells /noise which may be concerning some of our members. This will create a barrier between the kitchen door and the court 1 entry door and will create a small area that will house the new Caffe Parma staff lockers mentioned above. We expect that these lockers will be used where possible by the staff in priority over the lockers in the changing room area. 3/ Caffe Parma staff on break time coming into the members bar area to either relax or have their lunch/dinner. We also have an agreement that their staff can sit in our members area at break time. Once again they never dominate the area and are a very agreeable bunch of young people 4/ Caffe Parma staff using the gym. The only Caffe Parma staff who can use the gym are those who are members. 5/ Storage of cafe furniture in squash gallery and club bar area We have agreed that the cafe will be allowed to store some high chairs in our bar area near the bins which don’t affect our space and that the cafe will limit any storage in the gallery and make sure it is entirely free during matches. . 5/ Caffe Parma staff coming through the squash gallery while people are playing squash. There have been issues with the use of the squash gallery (in particular when the dumb waiter wasn't working) and staff had to go through the gallery more often. We have looked at various options as to how we can seal the exposed area where you look down into the court. We have decided upon an acoustic curtain which can be open for matches or closed at all other times. (will be fitted on Thursday 10th March) This will allow players to play in privacy if they so wish and for staff/members to use the gallery without disturbing anyone. These curtains are an effective barrier against noise and obviously movement. The gallery is also used for all members as a through route into the cafe without having to go outside. The Caffe Parma staff are aware this is a sensitive area and the door is now clearly marked “For emergency use only” on the restaurant side. We hope the use of the gallery will reduce except in exceptional circumstances. Spinning The spinning classes are also proving to be extremely popular and this is another issue raised by some of our members. Some people are concerned about the non members from spinning utilising our changing areas & toilets.. Our agreement with the spinning studio is that they are allowed to use our changing areas. This is part of the lease. They would not in fact be allowed to operate the studio without toilets and so was necessary to make this concession to normal practice in order to secure the income in the form of lease income. Very few of them do ever use the changing areas and if they do it's usually for the loo! We get a substantial rent from the spinning studio and it is also helping to bring in new members to the club. Many of the spinners were in fact members before the studio began. Overall We do appreciate that change can be challenging, but in the interests of advancing the club and stabilising it’s future we have invested in Caffe Parma & a spinning studio in an effort to create a more inclusive culture where members of the public may venture into our "domain" and decide to join. Also providing us with a lovely place to eat and much nicer image on Hyndland Road. If the Caffe Parma & spinning staff (plus spinners) are made to feel that we are a friendly welcoming club then we feel that we will have much more chance of attracting new members. In many respects Caffe Parma are now our front line in terms of dealing with potential new members. Stefano now employs our original bar staff who continue to service our bar and the plan is for Stefano to renovate our member’s bar for us to enjoy in the very near future (at his expense). Potential plans will be displayed in the bar area before any work commences to allow all members to have a look. We have decided to wait until the end of the squash season before doing any bar renovations. It is also our intention to renovate the men’s changing area once again after the squash season finishes and before the main tennis season begins. We really appreciate your feedback and would be happy to hear any constructive ideas/suggestions re the club’s future. This can be done easily by email to : info@glasgowwestern.co.uk or speak to myself (Ian Campbell) who you will find at the club most days. We sincerely hope that this has helped alleviate any concerns that some of our members may have had. The Committee

02/03/2016