READY, SET … AND BUSINESSES ARE OFF TO A FLYING START
THEY know there will be some pain, but Gold Coast businesses, big and small, are aiming to maximise gains from the Commonwealth Games.
Local businesses are embracing the opportunity to have the history-making $2 billion event in their own back yard, signing up to two special programs designed to have them “Games-ready” next April.
The programs – called Get Set for the Games and Be My Guest – are being run by the State Government, Gold Coast City Council and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation.
Both involve a series of workshops – Get Set for the Games to help businesses plan operating hours, staff travel and deliveries during the Games when roads will be closed or congested; and Be My Guest to help lift service standards in anticipation of more than 670,000 extra visitors flooding the Coast.
Christian Mak, of the Ridgeway Group, which owns eight upscale restaurants on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, including the BiN chain, said his company had signed up to Get Set for the Games to ensure its eateries would function smoothly during the two-week event.
“We’ve got more than 130 staff working across eight venues from Coolangatta to Brisbane and will have about 200 staff by Games time, including in a new restaurant we’re opening at Runaway Bay,” he said.
Staff at Pacific Fair shopping centre have undergone Be My Guest training to complement the Broadbeach shopping centre’s recent $670 million facelift.
Pacific Fair chief concierge Tom McIntyre said while Coast service standards had lifted significantly in recent years, there was always room to improve. “There is no reason to wait until the Games to start lifting our customer service standards and the more practice we have preGames, the better,” he said. “All eyes will be on us and it should be (a time) when Gold Coasters stand proud and show off a place they call home.”