Crew
Briefed, uniformed and managed
- Waitrons and runners, plated to canapés
- Bartenders and mixologists
- Chefs, kitchen crew and scullery
- Hosts, ushers and cloakroom
- Floor and bar managers
The peoplebehind theexperience.
We run the hospitality at your event: trained crew, a managed bar and the suppliers behind them. One team on the night, one booking and one invoice, so you can be a guest at your own event.
Built alongside our production partner, BLKSM Events
One bookingCrew, bar and suppliers on one invoice
Your event’s hospitality department
Crew & Cork plugs into any event as the hospitality team: the people, the bar and the suppliers that keep them going. Brief us once, and deal with one floor manager on the night.
Bar
Managed bars, cash or hosted
- Mobile bar units and glassware
- Stock through our drinks partners
- Card payments and stock control
- Liquor licensing for your event
- Responsible service, every pour
Partners
The suppliers we trust
- Caterers for every style and budget
- Drinks brands and distributors
- Ice, glassware and equipment hire
- Coffee bars and dessert stations
- Menus printed with your logo
One call, one team, one invoice.Need the whole event? With our production partner BLKSM Events we also take on the venue, décor, sound and run sheet.
Get a quoteWhy event producers call us
Guests judge an event by the people serving them. We make sure that’s a good thing.
A floor manager on every job
One person runs the crew plan on the night and is your only contact. You stay with your guests.
Everyone on our payroll
Every crew member is employed by Crew & Cork, with a written contract, UIF and COIDA. No cash-paid casuals, and no liability landing on you.
A standby bench
We plan extra standby crew for every event, so a late cancellation is our problem, not yours.
Crew who are paid properly
Our lowest crew rate is well above minimum wage. Well-paid crew show up, and they stay until the last glass is packed.
One night, minute by minute
What a Crew & Cork team does between the first guest and the last glass.
- 16:30
Crew arrive
Your crew arrive half an hour before call time, check in with the floor manager and line up for the night’s briefing: the menu, the run sheet and who’s who.
- 17:15
Final touches
Tables set, glasses polished, the bar stocked and iced. Nothing is left for the last minute.
- 18:00
Doors open
Welcome drinks at the door, names checked, guests shown where to go.
- 19:30
Dinner is served
Plated, buffet or walk-around canapés, served in step so every table gets its course at the same time.
- 21:00
The bar takes over
Bartenders who keep the queue short and the pours honest, at a cash or hosted bar we run for you.
- 23:45
Pack-down
We clear, count the glasses back and leave the venue the way we found it. You sign off the hours and that’s it.
How your event comes together
The same process for a 40-guest dinner or a 3,000-person festival. Only the team grows.
Brief and quote
Tell us the guests, the service style, the hours and the bar. You get a quote within 24 hours.
Your plan
We put together the crew, the bar and the suppliers. A 50% deposit secures your date.
Briefed and ready
Your team gets the menu, run sheet, dress code and venue map 48 hours before the event.
Signed off
You sign off the actual hours and we invoice the balance the next day. We pay the crew.
Meet our young founders
Two rugby boys who know hospitality from the inside: the late nights, the heavy trays and the people who make an event work. Between them they’ve built a network of crew, suppliers and clients that usually takes years to collect.
Ruan Lessing
Co-founder, operationsRuan runs an event the way a good scrum works: low to the ground, perfectly organised and everyone pushing in the same direction. He knows exactly what guests notice (an empty glass) and what they never should (the scramble behind the bar).
Somewhere along the way he collected the numbers of half of Pretoria’s best waitrons and bartenders. Handy, because he’s usually the one calling them.
Rugby taught him that nobody leaves the field until the job is done. Hospitality taught him that includes stacking the chairs.
Len Müller
Co-founder, operationsLen has the rugby player’s habit of knowing where everyone is before the ball arrives, which turns out to be exactly what a busy service needs. He can tell you how long a canapé round takes and why the ice always runs out at nine (not on his watch).
He knows the suppliers who’ll still pick up at midnight, and the clients by first name and favourite drink.
Rugby taught him to talk to his team. Hospitality taught him to talk to everyone else as well.
Young, hands-on, and very hard to get off the floor.
Just need a few hands?
For smaller jobs, book crew by the hour online. Pick a date, choose your people, and pay by card or EFT once they’ve confirmed.
Meet some of the crew
These crew members have chosen to show their profile. Pick them by name when you book.
Planning something?
Tell us about your next project. We’ll come back to you within one working day with a plan and a quote for the crew, the bar and anything else you need.