I have been in the hospitality industry for the past 14 years and a General Manager for high volume gastropubs for 4 of those years.
During this time in a people focused industry, in which I have consistently increased YOY revenue and been recognised as the company’s top 2 performing GMS, I have learned the necessary communication and customer service skills to explore a new career as a Software Developer.
While I have enjoyed my experiences and learnings throughout these years, at the beginning of 2020, I started feeling the need to both further my knowledge and to start building foundations for the next phase in my life. So when the world first went into lockdown In April 2020, I decided to use the spare time to take up coding and, to my pleasant surprise, I found it to be an amazing medium in which creativity and technology came together for a really satisfying experience. Finding the solution to even the simplest challenge gave me an amazing feeling of accomplishment.
So the obvious choice for me was to pursue this professionally and I decided to enrol in Code Institute's Software Development Bootcamp, during which I have a obtained Front and Back End skills, specifically in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, Flask, Django, SQL and MongoDB.
I believe the skills I have obtained in my professional career can translate well in an IT environment, where pressure, deadlines and effective planning are routine.
I have managed teams as large as 30 members in a variety of very demanding environments, and I like to think that effective communication, feedback and valuing others were at the heart of my successful experience.
As General Manager , I have increased YOY revenue by 16.5% in the first year, 20% in the second year and 21.5% in the third year. In a company of almost 300 gastropubs, I was awarded runner up “Newcomer General Manager”, and runner up “Overall General Manager” In my first two years. In my fourth year , in a different establishment, I have doubled top line revenue in only 4 months.
I am extremely excited to have started this next chapter in my life.
To whoever it may concern, thank you for taking the time to read a little about me.
Francesco Saponaro
