Accent Catering
The Staines-based, independent catering company, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, has built a reputation based on high-quality food, honesty, transparency, gender-parity, diversity and a relational approach.
Over the last three years, 68% of promotions have been given to female staff. Almost half (49%) of Accent’s 174 line managers are female, 81% of its unit-based staff is female and almost half of the company’s 277 chefs are female.
Out of the nine directors within Accent, five are female. Every staff member is encouraged, celebrated and supported to reach his or her full potential, such as Jo Baptiste, who received ‘The Ingenuity Award: Innovator of the Year’ award at the Accent Awards last year in recognition of her ‘outstanding contribution’.
Jo’s history
Jo is one of nine hospitality development chefs within Accent Catering. Her role is dedicated to hospitality development within Accent’s school contracts. Before joining Accent in January 2021, Jo had spent her entire career working in hospitality, starting her career as a commis chef with the Roux Brothers.
She worked her way up the ranks, initially within London-based business and industry sites, moving on to take up executive and hospitality head chef roles with leading foodservice players, including Elior and Lexington Catering. Jo also worked directly for City-based banks and investment companies as a hospitality/head chef.
Jo acknowledged that, at times, her role as a female chef was challenging during the early days of her career but is grateful for how the hospitality sector has positively changed over the past thirty years. Accent is just one example of how an industry player has built an ethos of care and respect into the business from the outset, prompting a culture of reciprocity, giving and equity.
Sharing skills
Jo lives those values out in her role every day as most of it is spent sharing her skills with her on-site school catering teams, many of whom are female.
She said: “It is great to see this shift where talent matters and there are opportunities for all. The contract catering sector is a highly competitive one, so the success of any contract depends on happy staff and happy clients.
“You can’t have one without the other. The relationships we build as on-site teams form the core of the business relationship. This impacts on everything from job satisfaction, staff/client retention and reputation to financial goals.”
Jo’s role is very hands-on, involving working alongside her teams to demonstrate and train, including supporting seasonal menu development, bespoke hospitality requests and practical demonstrations, such as building a canapé or dessert.
Mobilising contracts
Her emphasis is always on identifying needs and supporting staff to reach their full potential. She also supports the mobilisation of new contracts, during which she works closely with staff to help set up the service. She explained: “I feel a great sense of pride in giving people the skills set to shine. I love this aspect of my job.”
Jo also works with Accent’s sales team by attending new business presentations, and she is always already ready to jump into the role of commis chef, when needed, to support a colleague in the kitchen. Part of her role involves researching the market to keep on the pulse of trends and the latest food innovations.
Innovative events
“I never switch off”, she said. “If you love something, then you always want to be better. But it’s not about innovation for innovation’s sake; the core elements of balancing nutritional needs, seasonality, dietary and budgetary requirements are always present when I am developing new dishes and menus, and it’s a joy to be able to share this insight with my teams.
“Every school hospitality event - from canapés to Governors’ Dinners, open days, sports teas and seasonal events – is an opportunity for a school to impress parents, dignitaries and other visitors, and even other schools, with their quality standards.
“People love to talk about food, and I think word of mouth is a key marketing tool for this highly competitive sector, so it is vital that staff have the skills and confidence to showcase their talent.”
Seasons book
Last year, Jo realised a lifetime dream by having a book of her seasonal recipes, Seasons, published by Accent. Having spent over three decades working in the hospitality sector in fine dining, hospitality and contract catering, she had gathered hundreds of recipes, which are now shared with colleagues and clients.
“Although friends, family and colleagues always believed I had the makings of a cookery book in me, I never dreamed that I would have this opportunity. To be supported to do this by Accent means the world to me’, she said.
“On this International Women’s Day, I think of all the great women who have made, and continue to make, a difference within the hospitality sector. I whole-heartedly encourage any young woman who might be considering joining this profession to do so as this sector holds so much potential for people to grow and to give.”