Our People
At ISS Caterhouse, people are at the core of our service provision.
Without the right people in place we could not expect to meet the high standards that we set
and our customers expect to receive.
Our staff are our greatest asset and we go to great lengths to make sure they are
trained to the very highest standards. On a practical level this includes one to
one training on aspects such as making fresh sauces, preparing vegetables and batch
cooking. We also train our staff in skills such as customer care to make sure they
provide the right level of service to our customers.
Our Senior Management Team has extensive experience in the school meals industry.
Please contact us us if you would like to discuss
the possibility of us providing a meals service to your school
Tom Seery
Managing Director
Tom has over 30 years catering experience. He is a classically trained chef and
a Member by examination of the Hotel, Catering & Institutional Management Association.
He has a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies and the Advanced Food Hygiene
Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.
His extensive management experience is from both the private and public sectors.
This includes not only "hands on" management but also development and implementation
of numerous marketing strategies.
He has acted as a Management Consultant for a number of Local Authorities, setting
up many client / contractor operations. He worked as Director of the first National
Campaign to promote school meals, FEAST (Fun Eating at School Today).
Tom continues today as a leader and a campaigner for the continuous development
and improvement in school meals.
Mark Davies
Divisional Director
Mark has 14 years experience working in soft services industry within the education
and healthcare sectors. He has worked within the Sales, Operations and PFI environment
and has managed projects in education & healthcare from inception to implementation
over the last 8 years, including the first BSF Project to go live in the UK. This
has brought him extensive experience of commercial and operational processes including
contract negotiation, partnership development and operational management.
Mark has been instrumental in the recent successful integration of ISS Caterhouse
and continues to lead the organisation by building on its strengths and its passion
for providing children with an excellent school meals service.
With a young family, Mark is committed to providing children with not only sustenance
during their busy school life but also to provide them with fond memories of their
school meals experience in years to come.
Mark has completed a Diploma in Management studies (DMS) with distinction.
Karen Wood
Catering Operations Director
Karen has 25 years experience of working in the school meals sector. After catering
college she started her career with the London borough of Barnet, firstly as a Catering
Manager of a large transport school, before being promoted to Peripatetic Supervisor
and then Training Officer.
After having a career break to raise a family she her returned to school meals.
With the introduction of Compulsory Competitive Tendering she worked as a Quality
Assurance Officer for the London Borough of Barnet until her move to Caterhouse
in 2001.
Since then she has worked on all aspects of the business from sales to finance to
operations giving her an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of school catering.
Karen is a member of Local Authorities Catering Association.
Elaine Gardner
Company Dietician
Elaine is a Registered Dietitian with over 25 years in practice. She has a degree
in Dietetics, is an active member of The British Dietetic Association and is registered
with the Health Professions Council (www.hpcheck.org).
After working in hospitals in clinical specialities ranging from paediatrics (children)
to gastroenterology, she lectured in nutrition at a London Catering College. This
involved teaching both practical and theoretical subjects to a full range of food
service providers. She is a qualified trainer and specialist in Food Hygiene and
is currently a tutor for The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
For the past 10 years, Elaine has run her own successful consultancy business, utilising
her skills in evaluation and analysis for clients in both the private and public
sector.
Recently she has undertaken research projects for The School Food Trust as well
as delivering public health programmes in Childrens Centres and Nursery Schools.
Elaine also develops innovative teaching resources for schools to help them provide
a whole school-approach to healthy eating.
Elaine is supplying the nutritional expertise for ISS Caterhouse in the provision
of healthy school meals throughout the South-East of England.
For more details regarding her work see www.RDejg-nutrition.org
The 14 to 19 Agenda
There has never been as much interest in the school meals business. Since the intervention
of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, the world has changed! Students and parents are
demanding more of school caterers.
The 14 to 19 Agenda calls for a much greater involvement from industry. We applaud
the media interest that Celebrity Chefs are bringing to school catering.
Being a chef has never been as cool!
Working in a kitchen can actually increase your street cred!
ISS is part of a worldwide organisation providing services to both the public and
private sector. We can offer students valuable work experience in live kitchens
both in and outside mainstream schools.
Our modern customer focussed approach to school catering will require
ever-increasing levels of craft skills in our kitchens.
Our vision involves the employment of our Development Chef Trainer to work alongside
our school caterers to harness the energy and enthusiasm of our students and customers.
Recruitment
If you are as passionate as we are about school meals and are interested in putting
a smile on children’s faces every lunch time then we are looking to hear from you.
If you are interest in joining the ISS Caterhouse team please contact us.
We are committed to promoting the welfare of children and expect all of our staff
to share this commitment