Charlton House launches back to front

'Back to Front' is the company's 'grow your own' approach to help chefs to go from back of house to front of house by developing their managerial skills and potential so that they can seize career progression opportunities within Charlton House. Malcolm Cook is one of the first to come through the programme. Malcolm started with Charlton House in May 2006 as head chef at DSG International plc in Hemel Hempstead. In June 2007 he embarked on the Back to Front programme and is now chef manager with Charlton House at VocaLink, a specialist provider of payment transaction services, based in Dunstable. Malcolm and his team of three cater for 180 VocaLink employees on-site, providing a breakfast, deli bar, salad bar and hot counter lunch service, as well as grab and go, hospitality lunches and a vending operation on two floors. Commenting on the programme, Malcolm Cook said: "Back to Front is a complete programme which incorporates every aspect of a chef manager's role, from food presentation, taste and knowledge to costing & financial responsibilities, accounting, health & safety issues and man management skills. I can highly recommend it. It has taught me a great deal about management and I don't feel that I would be in my current role without it. I had tremendous support along the way from my former manager and from my operations manager who acted as mentors throughout." Alison Gilbert, human resources director of Charlton House, said: "As an Investors in People company since 1997 we do our very best to nurture, reward and develop our staff. The Back to Front programme is proving very popular with our chefs because it gives them an opportunity to move out of the kitchen and into management, from a staff restaurant level right through to operations." There are currently eight chefs on the Back to Front programme which takes approximately 12-18 months to complete. Four people have come through the programme, three of whom are now in managerial positions within Charlton House.