Columbine’s is a medium sized Italian restaurant operating in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The business started out 30 years ago operating out of one shop however over the years it has expanded its operations and premises. The business now occupies a large main street building of three levels, the lower ground floor has a commercial kitchen and store rooms, the ground floor has a pizza preparation and take-way sales and collection area, a bar and gelataria and seating for 150-200 restaurant customers. Upstairs there is an area for holding functions. On a busy night, Columbine’s has at least 80 employees engaged in food preparation, cooking and serving tables. The shopping strip where the business is located has experienced change in particular the opening of many cafes and fast-food outlets. The owners of Columbine’s are keen to ensure their business remains competitive and have been reviewing its performance over the past few years.
On checking with restaurant industry sources, Columbine’s have been advised that they can also check their performance against industry standards which are: 32% of each dollar the business earns would be spent on purchasing food and beverages, 33% on paying their staff and five per cent on costs associated with running the business e. g. electricity, gas etc. In addition to the data provided below, this information would provide Columbine’s with additional tools to use when reviewing its performance. It should be noted that in 2015 another large Italian restaurant opened nearby hoping to take some of the market share away from Columbine’s however this strategy did not work as customers remained loyal to Columbine’s and that business closed in 2016.

Key Performance Indicator
2014-2015
2015-2016
2016-2017
Net profit
$2.6m
$1.9m
$2.7m
Number of customers per week
980
1002
1050
Number of workplace accidents
5
3
6
Number of customer complaints per week
3
2
2
Level of wastage (% of inputs)
10%
8%
6%

Interpret the information related to the five Key Performance Indicators for the periods 2014-5, 2015-6 and 2016-7 to analyse and evaluate the business performance of Columbine’s Restaurant.