Restaurant jobs in Southport

General Manager ... Wild Root

35-45 hours per week | 7-day operation | Competitive salary + benefits | ASAP start

Come and grow with us

Wild Root is a fully plant-based, dog-friendly cafe, garden and events space, set in a beautiful rural location. Plants are at the centre of everything we do, from the food we serve to the environment we create for our customers and our team.

We’re a growing, independent business with big ambitions, and we’re looking for a dynamic, hands-on General Manager to join us as we continue to grow.

This isn’t a role for someone who wants to sit behind a desk. We need someone who loves being on the floor, talking to customers, supporting their team and making things happen. Someone who can walk into a busy service, stay calm, take charge and bring energy to the room.

If you’re outgoing, passionate about hospitality, obsessed with great customer service and excited by coffee, plants, food and people, we’d love to hear from you.

The role

As General Manager, you’ll be responsible for the day-to-day running of Wild Root, leading our team and making sure every customer has a brilliant experience.

You’ll be the person who sets the tone, creating a fun, positive and professional environment where the team feels supported, motivated and proud of what they do.

You’ll oversee cafe and deli operations, private bookings and events, while working closely with the Directors and Creative Director to help drive the business forward.

We’re looking for someone who can hit the ground running. Someone commercially minded who understands that the little things matter, but who can also see the bigger picture and help us build the next stage of Wild Root.

What you'll be doing

• Leading the team from the front and being a visible, hands-on presence during service
• Delivering exceptional customer service and ensuring our customers feel welcomed, looked after and excited to return
• Managing the day-to-day running of the cafe, deli and events
• Managing private bookings, special events and promotions alongside our Ops Manager
• Motivating, coaching and developing the team to deliver consistently high standards
• Recruiting new team members and organising training and development
• Creating and managing staff rotas within agreed budgets
• Conducting performance reviews and supporting HR processes
• Managing sales, budgets and performance targets
• Analysing sales figures and forecasting future sales
• Managing stock levels, ordering and supplier relationships
• Ensuring payroll, cash sheets, stocktakes and other reporting are completed accurately and on time
• Overseeing cash handling, banking and EPOS procedures
• Ensuring excellent food hygiene, health & safety and compliance standards
• Ensuring kitchen and front-of-house procedures are followed
• Keeping the whole site clean, organised and looking its best
• Dealing confidently and professionally with customer feedback and complaints
• Taking ownership of security, maintenance and operational issues
• Working with the Directors and local businesses on marketing and business development
• Helping to promote our café, deli, retail offering and events
• Keeping an eye on market trends and what competitors are doing
• Supporting the Creative Director to make sure private and public events run smoothly
• Looking for opportunities to improve the business, increase sales and make Wild Root even better

Who we're looking for

Most importantly, we’re looking for the right person.

You’ll be:

• Outgoing, friendly and confident, you genuinely enjoy talking to people
• Passionate about customer service and hospitality
• Energetic, proactive and ready to get stuck in
• Calm and capable when things get busy
• A natural leader who knows how to motivate and bring the best out of people
• Commercially aware and comfortable working with targets, budgets and figures
• Organised and able to juggle multiple priorities
• Passionate about plants, food and great coffee
• Excited by the opportunity to join a growing independent business
• Someone who takes ownership rather than waiting to be told what to do
• Professional, positive and able to lead by example
• Passionate about quality produce and creating memorable experiences

Experience

You’ll need at least two years’ hospitality experience in a supervisory or management role.

Experience managing a cafe, restaurant, deli or similar fast-paced hospitality environment would be a real advantage.

We’re particularly interested in people who have experience with team management, rotas, stock control, ordering, H&S, food hygiene, events and customer service.

Why Wild Root?

We’re not a corporate chain. We’re a growing, independent business with a strong personality, a big love of plants and a genuine passion for what we do.

You’ll have the opportunity to make your mark, work closely with the Directors and help shape the future of Wild Root as we grow.

And, of course:

• Free meals while working (£12 allowance daily)
• Generous staff discounts
• Regular discretionary staff incentives
• Staff uniform
• Excellent training and development
• A dog-friendly working environment
• 100% of gratuity distributed amongst the restaurant team — approximately £50-£70 per week for the GM
• Free onsite parking
• A beautiful rural place to work
• A friendly, like-minded team

Grow with us

Wild Root is growing, and this role has the potential to grow with it.

We are opening a brand-new Wild Root branch in Liverpool, giving the right person the opportunity to work additional shifts at the new site if they’re looking for more hours.

It’s a great opportunity for someone who enjoys variety, wants to be involved in an exciting new opening and is keen to become part of the wider Wild Root team.

With two locations and a growing business, there’s plenty of opportunity for the right person to develop, take on more responsibility and make a real impact.

We need someone who can start ASAP

We’re growing quickly and we need someone who is ready to get stuck in.

If you're an experienced hospitality manager who is full of energy, loves people, cares about the details and wants to be part of something exciting, we want to hear from you.

Come and help us grow Wild Root.

Apply now and tell us a little about yourself, your experience and why Wild Root feels like the right fit for you.

www.wildroot.co.uk

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: £15.00 per hour

Expected hours: 35.0 – 45.0 per week

Benefits:

• Company events
• Company pension
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• Free parking
• Health & wellbeing programme
• On-site parking
• Store discount

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Southport PR8 3DL: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Experience:

• Hospitality: 2 years (required)

Licence/Certification:

• Driving Licence (required)

Work Location: In person