Graeme Watson joined the caterer in November, having spent the past five years as operations manager with Olive Catering. Watson now works alongside Alan Beddie who joined Wilson Vale two years ago as operations director.
Carolyne Vale, co-founder of Wilson Vale, said: “Looking after our existing business is absolutely core to our success to date. The relationships we have with our clients and our high levels of service are key factors in our retention and extension of business so we feel that this latest appointment is a wise investment for the future.
“A unique facet of Wilson Vale is the fact that all of our operational people started out their careers as chefs so this gives them an insight and understanding into the challenges facing our catering teams.”
Watson is a craft-trained chef. He started his career at The Savoy in London under the stewardship of Anton Edelmann and over the following three years went on to work in Michelin starred restaurants in the capital including Waltons and Inigo Jones.
He also ran his own business, Watson’s Restaurant in Leicester, where he was awarded numerous awards and rosettes over the nine years he ran the business.
Watson said: “Wilson Vale is widely regarded as a market leader in food and the company has been on my radar for many years. Having spent most of my career working in fine dining and high quality restaurants, Wilson Vale appealed to me as quality operator with a positive culture driven by good food and great service.”
Watson will be initially responsible for two area managers within the Midlands and South, with a current portfolio of 19 clients but this is expected to rise in the coming months.