Taking over an iconic Sai Kung bakery has been anything but a piece of cake for Hazel Cheung. If anything, 'it's seen more drama than starring in a soap opera'.
Ms Cheung was well aware she would need to give the fraying Ali Oli Bakery Cafe a facelift; she just did not expect to inherit malfunctioning equipment and a gang of unreceptive staff.
'I wanted to come in and make Ali Oli's a better place for customers. I didn't expect all these problems. None of the fittings work properly and I've never had to manage people before, let alone deal with the shop's working culture. It wasn't easy coming in. I felt like an alien,' said Ms Cheung, a 36-year-old mother of two.
The self-trained chef realised she had a battle on her hands two weeks into her new venture, when one of her two bakers broke his arm, leaving a worrying void. Then, just before Christmas, a miscommunication and the non-appearance of a baker created much angst. She now has six bakers, but still there are teething problems.
On the shop floor, staff have resisted her presence and getting them to follow rules has taken its toll. 'The staff never really had a boss or proper systems to follow. They were not used to reporting to someone. It's not their fault; it was never expected of them. But the last thing I want is to be a stern boss. It's just not in my personality.'
She said she understood the animosity, which she put down to the bakery being run as a family business. The shop was opened in 1986 by an Australian and his wife, who passed it on to their daughter. She sold it to Ms Cheung for about $1 million.
To get the business up and running, Ms Cheung, her businessman husband Philip Woolf and his partner Matt Fletcher have worked hard to install proper business processes, get the accounts up to scratch and train the 16 employees.
