Chatting with the Managing team that is changing up Chance & Counters’ Birmingham venue
There are new sheriffs in Birmingham town! This week, I chatted with Shayane and Ellie, the new managers of our Birmingham venue, about their work, their team, and what’s coming up next.
Have a read and get to know this lovely team!
Skip ahead:
Would you guys like to introduce yourselves?
Ellie: Yes! My name is Ellie, and I’m Deputy General Manager at Chance & Counters, Birmingham. I’ve been here just over three years now, and I’ve worked my way up to this position quite recently, in June.
Shayane: I’m Shayane. I started here almost a year ago, now, as General Manager. I’ve worked at various types of hospitality venues, but I was excited to try something new here at Chance.
Miriam: Are you both from Birmingham?
E: No, I’m from Cambridgeshire. I moved here for Uni in 2020, and then I just never left!
S: I grew up in Birmingham, ended up going to Uni here as well, and then I’ve just stayed put.
What would you say is your favourite thing about the city?
E: One of my favourite things is that, even though it’s classed as the UK’s second biggest city, there is this lovely sense of community. People always say that people are really nice here. You’re always bumping into people, and it feels like everyone knows each other. I just think that’s lovely.
S: I also like how different various parts of Birmingham are. Even just within the city centre, it’s very diverse, and you get all these different communities nearby.
E: Every bit has its own personality.
M: That’s really nice. Makes me want to visit Birmingham now. Might have to rethink my next weekend away…
M: Now, a very important question: What are your favourite board games?
E: It changes constantly! We always have new games coming in, and then we’re also always learning new games with friends or colleagues. But at the minute? One of my favourite games is You Know It. It’s a trivia game where you earn points for getting correct answers, but also for guessing how many people would get that question right. You don’t get stuck if you don’t know the answer, so it’s much more accessible.
S: Oooh.. It’s difficult because of the sheer number of board games that come and go, but my favourite at the moment is Fire Tower. It’s a great fast-paced game, and I think it’s a lot of fun. I like how you can work together and team up, but then it’s still very competitive, and everyone’s trying to be the last one standing.
M: What would you say is your favourite thing about working at Chance?
E: I think it’s the community. It’s a very different type of customer base compared to a regular bar. You get a lot of regulars, and it’s nice for us to build a relationship with them, and I think it’s great for them as well. We’re not a massive team, so customers see a lot of familiar faces. You get to know who people are, what they get, the weird way they like their milkshake. That bit of familiarity is really nice.
S: I really enjoy the team. It’s a great place to work and manage, and watching the team grow, not just professionally but personally, has been very rewarding. It’s great to work with people who don’t just think of hospitality as something to do while at Uni or while waiting for a better job, but who enjoy the job and really care about what they do.
E: It’s a very supportive team. It’s great watching people become more confident by working together. And the way you make any hospitality venue stronger is by having a strong team.
S: It’s very special, working with people who are passionate about what they are doing.
E: When the staff are happy, the customers are happy.
Get to know the team!
M: I thought we could do a fun, silly game where you nominate someone from the team for each category?
E: Sounds great!
M: To start us off, who makes the prettiest lattes on the team?
E: Ooh… I’m gonna say Scarlett!
S: For sure.
E: She has great latte art
S: I think I’ve never seen one that wasn’t annoyingly good.
E: She’s really creative as well. Even with chai lattes, she’ll still do a cute design with the cinnamon powder.
M: Who makes the meanest milkshake?
S: Ooh, I think that’s got to be you, Ellie
E: Thank you! I do pride myself on my milkshakes.
S: They always look excellent.
E: You gotta get the sauce to look like it’s dripping down on the inside, and get the cream nice and high.
M: Who knows the most board games?
S: That’s tough. Maybe Dru?
E: Yeah. Or Fearne?
S: Fearne knows more board games in terms of numbers.
E: Dru knows more of the role-playing games, D&D, Blood on the Clocktower.
M: Who has the best taste in music?
E: Rowen. She only started with us recently, but she’s a music student, so she knows loads about music.
S: Yeah.
E: I think she listens to a lot of different genres. She knows stuff from everywhere.
S: Yeah, Rowen has the widest taste, for sure.
M: Who has the best banter?
S: Orla always has a good giggle. She’s one of those people who will do her job, but then she’ll have a giggle while trying to teach a board game.
E: Yeah, she has a great sense of humour. The social gamers love her.
M: Who has the best memes?
E: Maybe Adam?
S: Maybe Adam!
E: He’s our head chef and he loves a meme.
S: Dru is also very funny in his messages on the group chat.
E: Yeah, and funny gifs.
M: Who is most likely to be famous one day?
E: Maybe Rowen with her music? She’s done musical theatre before as well.
S: Or Ant. One of our chefs, Ant, is a photographer and he takes some beautiful photos! I can definitely see him doing photography exhibitions one day.
M: Who pets the most dogs?
S: Might be Scarlett
E: She loves dogs. She also has dogs, doesn’t she?
E: Or Orla!
S: I think it’s a close race between everyone, actually.
E: When a dog comes in, everybody needs to have a pet.
What are you most looking forward to at Chance & Counters in the near future?
E: We have a fancy D&D one-shot coming up where we are partnering up with Roll & Play Press. It’s very cool to be working with a big company, reaching new people. It’ll be a lot of fun to host, as well. We’ll have food and drink, freebies. It will be really cool for people who are into D&D or want to try it out for the first time.
S: We’d love to collaborate more with different brands. That would be great.
M: Are there any Birmingham-based businesses you’d like to collaborate with?
S: Oh absolutely. I’d love to get more involved with the local community. The Mockingbird Cinema is on my radar. Beer-wise, I’d love to collab with Purity Brewing and Green Duck.
E: We’re at a point where we’re growing a lot as a business, expanding our customer base, having more people discover us, coming back again and again. It’s really exciting and rewarding.
