Interviews

What’s your background? As managing director of the UK & Ireland business, I am responsible for roasting over 8,000 tonnes of coffee and delivering over 20 billion cups of coffee a year out of home via leading foodservice operators and retailers. I was head hunted in 1996 by First Choice Coffee (later acquired by United Coffee in 2006). With time I rose up to board level and am now the key driver behind the company’s sales growth. I have been with United Coffee for 15 years, and in the hospitality industry for 20.

What was your dream job at school? When I was seven, I wanted to be a chef. Mum and dad worked, and because they didn’t get back home until 5–6pm, I had my own key to get in. I was hungry and there was a cookery book – Mrs Beaton’s, I think. The first thing I cooked was cheese straws, and they were pretty good. What did you end up doing?

When you were at school what was your dream job? Apprentice to Eric Morley had a lot of appeal. It was the bingo I think … (for those readers too young to remember, Morley was the impresario who founded the Miss World beauty contest.) What did you end up doing?

What was your dream job at school? A: Professional footballer. I had trials as a schoolboy, and West Brom and Nottingham Forest both wanted to sign me, but I was only 14 and it would have meant moving away from home – I’m not sure I was ready for that. Q: What did you end up doing instead?

Q: When you were at school what was your dream job? A: I thought about being a barrister, inspired perhaps by the theatrical side of it, but after a year of law at Durham University I realised it wasn’t for me and switched to English history and politics. Q: What did you end up doing?

Q: When Jamie Oliver started his school meals campaign five years ago, what made you think ‘I have to do something’?

Q. What sort of career did you want when you were at school? A. I was always fairly undecided – it was always going to be in healthcare but I looked into being a doctor, psychologist, neurologist and optometrist before deciding on being a dietitian. There were so many things I was interested in, but I love helping people and making a difference. Q. How did you get interested in dietetics?

Q: Does SSP retain a culture of career progression? A: It was lovely series of evolutionary steps, made very simple. I think one of the best things about this business is that our learning and development programme is as good as anyone’s out there. We have a lot of trainers and a very extensive portfolio of training courses. We have a programme of recruitment from within and every two weeks a vacancy lists goes out to every one of the 650 units in the UK. Q: Which achievement are you most proud of?

Tim Hammond took over as chief executive of Elior UK in January, appointed to succeed Mike Audis. He joined from Barchester Healthcare, which taken together with his trusteeship of the charity Age UK gives him a real insider’s understanding of Elior’s care homes business. Q. What job did you want to do when you were still at school?

Q: What sort of job did you hope to do when you were at school? A: I always thought I’d go into catering.   My grandparents had been chefs, as were my parents. In fact, they ran a tea shop in the West Midlands when I was growing up. Q. So what did you do when you left? A: At 16, I went to Cassio College in Watford and did my City & Guilds 706, 707, 717 – the traditional, two-year, craft-based catering course. Q: What was your first job?