BRUNO Lucchi is backing a business venture by Howard Raynor, former chief executive of the Bridgewater Hall, called World Class Service, with the aim of creating a Manchester Standard for local companies and organisations.

Bruno says: "There's no secret to good customer service. It's about passion... passion for the people you serve, the food you prepare. Passion."

He adds: "If you don't care about the customers, why should they care about you? It's simple isn't it? You make people feel comfortable, smile at the right time, explain the menu."

Bruno has developed his style of total service in Manchester over the last 38 years, serving just about every visiting bigwig, from Sir Laurence Olivier, via Bing Crosby, to The Queen with the same trademark blend of tact and amiability. And, as he's quick to point out, he's served all his other customers the same way, regardless of how famous they are.

But are his skills communicable, or is it instinct? "Some people are natural," he says, "otherwise it's a question of training. With new waiters, I give them all my experience and teach them the basics from the beginning. And, then, as a team, we watch and monitor them."

Howard Raynor believes that matching service standards to customer expectations, and then exceeding them, is a matter of urgency for Manchester. Given the names which have already signed up with him, from The Lowry Hotel to Urbis, from the Bridge pub to the Palace Theatre, a lot of people seem to agree.

"We are becoming increasingly popular for tourists and for conventions," he says. "We have four new hotels going up and the International Festival opens next year. We've got the physical structure, the buildings, the airport, now we need the human back-up.

"We have to provide a fantastic experience for guests. And we have to provide that experience at the most important point, the frontline contact between customers, companies and organisations.

"After all, we're not competing with just other British cities, but with cities across the world."