Meet the team: Jo Hazlewood

Talk us through a typical day. What’s the best thing about your job?

I start at 8am and ensure the venue is set beautifully for our customers.  We have a full staff briefing at 11am with the team where we try our food and cocktail specials and run through all of our bookings.  After lunch service, we re-group for a briefing and then set the venue for evening with lots of candles so the bar and restaurant looks as warm and inviting as possible.  The best part of the day is being able to work with the team and seeing happy our guests having fun and leaving happy.  Our company motto is to make everybody smile and we do this through little acts of kindness from sweets in the ladies’ rest rooms to dropping surprise cocktails on tables. We want everyone to feel they have had a little everyday escape of their own while they’re with us.

What’s your favourite thing about The Refinery Spinningfields?

We have an amazing team of chefs who produce the best Sunday Roasts in town.  The team are half French and half English so it’s always fun to see the Yorkshire pudding competition between them.  My favourite area has the be the semi-private lounge, it has comfy sofas and a thick pile carpet – it feels lush, but also welcoming and homely.

What’s next for The Refinery Spinningfields?

We can’t wait to see the outside terrace in full swing during the summer months.  We have also just launched a Bottomless Brunch on Saturday and Sundays with plentiful glasses of Bellinis and Bloody Marys.

What’s the best thing about being home in Manchester?

Being back close to family and friends is priceless, but also having everybody around me with the same accent makes me smile every day.

We’ve got to ask – City or United?
Red through and through to my Dad’s disappointment!