Stephen Templeton, Managing Director of Ravenscoe Hospitality Placements


Stephen Templeton

MAGNETIC NORTH meets Stephen Templeton, the charismatic celebrity status executive chef who has up until recently held what is perceived to be the top job in the country as the Executive Chef of the prestigious Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. Stephen has recently resigned and has purchased a heritage site property in Montagu where he plans to create an exclusive guesthouse and award-winning restaurant. Stephen has also started a new hospitality recruitment agency called Ravensco Hospitality Recruitment, which will specialise, in sourcing candidates for the top positions in the industry.

MAGNETIC NORTH: Describe what new developments have taken place in your life since you have left the Mount Nelson Hotel?

ANSWER: I have bought a guesthouse and restaurant in Montagu, which will be mixture of great service, inviting pub and superb slow cooked cuisine in the restaurant. I have also started an agency called Ravenscoe Hospitality Recruitment, which is very exciting as it is something that I am very passionate about.

MAGNETIC NORTH: When did you begin your career in the industry and in what position?

ANSWER: I started in the late eighties with Southern Sun as a trainee chef and worked a long hard road up the corporate ladder until I got to the position of Executive Chef where I have been for the past 10 years.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What would you say motivated you the most to excel in this position?

ANSWER: Passion, perfection.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What factors influenced you in choosing this type of career?

ANSWER: I loved the excitement of the Hotel industry and the chance to travel and work around the world.

MAGNETIC NORTH: Looking back, what would you consider as highlights in your career?

ANSWER: My first job as executive chef at Sun City, doing Mr. Mandela’s inauguration are two big days but I have had too many to mention over the last 20 years.

MAGNETIC NORTH: Did you have any mentors in the industry and what did you learn from them?

ANSWER: Stephen Bagg and Andre Steyn both from Sun International. They taught me “ a chef is a manager and not just a cook but someone who needs to be a mentor, teacher, accountant, confidant and passionate about everything that we do” They are true leaders and I owe both a huge thanks.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What is your recipe for your success?

ANSWER: Try and do the best that I can each task that I take on. When I fall learn how to get up!

MAGNETIC NORTH: What excites you about this industry?

ANSWER: It’s always changing, the dynamics of working with both guests and staff as well as being creative with wonderful South African products.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What advice can you offer to candidates who would like to make this position a potential career?

ANSWER: Be prepared to make huge sacrifices but remember the rewards are immense.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What kind of character strengths do you need to be successful in your position?

ANSWER: Humourous, tough, compassionate and hard working.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What kind of characteristics do you try to identify in up and coming candidates?

ANSWER: I always say that when I meet someone in the business I can see if they will make it in the first 5 minutes as they will have it…. passion, a spark in the eye, something that shines in the personality.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What are common misconceptions that people have about your position and the industry?

ANSWER: People think that chefs are merely cooks but really they are financial kitchen managers who deal with large staff counts and still have to be the creative force behind each successful kitchen and hotel.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What is your opinion of the skills that are available in the market place?

ANSWER: I think the amount of junior chefs who are going overseas is putting a huge drain on the hotel and restaurants infrastructures as it mean that the middle management in the kitchens start to manage below their stations. The hotel schools are putting chefs into the industry after one year and the hotels are training as many in-house students as before.

MAGNETIC NORTH: How do you think that we could retain our skill in this country?

ANSWER: The training needs to be shared by the industry and the schools with an action plan to help facilitate the learners into the system as possible. I see too many chefs who finish school fly to Europe to get experience when we have some outstanding hotels and restaurants but no one helps to facilitate this.

MAGNETIC NORTH: Where do you see an urgent need for government to assist in building this industry in the run up to the 2010 Soccer World cup?

ANSWER: The need of entry-level staff who will be able to work as chefs, waiters and room maids. These positions are always left until last but they have a huge impact on the service standards of the properties.

MAGNETIC NORTH: Where do you see this industry going to in the next few years?

ANSWER: I see a huge growth in the guesthouse, bed and breakfast segment as the city dwellers are looking to escape for a break. I think the big hotels are pushing some of the their rack rates too high and this could lead to overseas and local tourists looking at alternative destinations or at more affordable hotels in a lower market segment. Price and service must be at an international level.

MAGNETIC NORTH: Do you think that the needs of the guests in our industry have changed in the past few years? How have their needs evolved?

ANSWER: The prices we are charging for our rooms and our dinning has risen to such and extent that we are at the same level as most European countries and even higher at the top end which means that customer expectations have increased and we have not invested enough on staffing and infrastructures to warrant this as we are not as service oriented as out overseas competitors.

MAGNETIC NORTH: How do you feel about your future in this industry and what are your goals?

ANSWER: I am going to concentrate on my restaurant and guesthouse and make it the very best destination culinary getaway in the Cape and I am going to have fun doing it. My recruitment agency will be an exciting avenue for me to still be involved in the industry as a whole.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What is the motto that you live your life by?

ANSWER: “I fall so I can learn to stand up”

MAGNETIC NORTH: The leisure industry is the world’s most rapidly expanding economic sector, do you believe that South Africans have the dept in our skills base to meet this challenge?

ANSWER: Not yet, I think we are growing too quickly for the industry to provide competent staff to service the industry to the international standards and not just African standards.

MAGNETIC NORTH: Do you believe that enough is being done to provide effective mentorship and development in the BEE sector of our industry?

ANSWER: I have seen first hand many great intuitive in the hotels but they are often not followed through and mentorship should not stop once the employee has reached middle management on a fast track program. There are still large well-known hotels with no BEE program in place and no people of color in senior management, which is very short- sighted.

MAGNETIC NORTH: What areas in our industry do you believe need urgent attention in terms of sustainable development?

ANSWER: The “informal “ guesthouse and bed and breakfast segment, as this is a market that ordinary people can afford to get into but support needs to be given by both the industry and the government. This segment could offer a great source of employment in the rural areas, which would mean that families do not have to be broken up when the parents have to go and find work in the big city hotels.

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