Jones said: “I am passionate about our great industry in the public sector. I am passionate about the whole of the hospitality industry- you’ve been absolutely remarkable. But I really do want to pay thanks to everyone of you out there who operate within the public sector, that’s from care homes, education, universities, hospitals, colleges, prisons, ministry of defence [and] government buildings.
“You have been absolutely remarkable over the last two years. I don’t want to forget our fantastic suppliers, our growers, our producers and our farmers of the UK who have been fantastic. Not only did we have Brexit to contend with, which we are seeing some of the ramifications now with short supply chains but also we had the pandemic.”
Jones said he wanted to set out some visions to achieve throughout 2022, including:
Retention and recruitment: ‘inspire’ young people from catering colleges to come in on work experience.
Sustainability: should be looking to achieve sustainability goals by the end of 2022.
Reduce waste: waste is something all caterers have but Jones suggested we need to learn to manage it better.
Embrace Government buying standards: work to put more British food on our menus.
Malnutrition and obesity: malnutrition often forgotten in UK and work with schools to tackle obesity early.
Jones was named as one of the top 20 ‘most influential’ by Public Sector Catering Magazine in the December issue. The 2022 Public Sector Catering Awards are now open for entry, with entries closing on 11 February 2022.