Nominations for the Public Sector Catering Award were sought from hospitals, prisons, education, military, public and social services and in-house staff restaurants. The judges were looking for a chef who creates nutritionally balanced and innovative menus produced to the highest standard within the constraints the public sector demands.
The three nominated finalists include:
Scott Freeman, ESS Defence: The culinary director leads the whole of Compass’s defence business, taking on more apprentices than any other sector and leading the way in training and development. He has created and now leads on the ESS Culinary Three-Year Plan, which covers development, food innovation, employee development, Net Zero, plant based, compliance and growth. He has won and mobilised key contracts across ESS, including Clyde dockyard, Thames Valley Police, HS2 and Herts Police. In doing so he has created bold menus and food offers and implemented a career pathway that is aiding retention and also attracting new people.
Tony Murphy, ESS: The executive chef for Government Services oversees culinary operations for 100-plus sites with clients including Ministry of Defence, Department of Work & Pensions, Department of Health, Welsh Government, Welsh Parliament and various police forces. Since joining in 2021 he has developed and implemented a centrally-managed food offer called Global Kitchen that includes concepts from around the world and is flexible enough to meet a very wide range of requirements. Since launch it has received ‘great’ feedback from customers and the ESS teams delivering it.
Gary Periti, Sodexo UK & Ireland: Gary is culinary development manager for schools and universities who uses the feedback from product tastings with pupils to re-engineer menus. New concepts are launched using training roadshows in which he encourages team members to deliver hands-on kitchen sessions for the cooks. In recognition that many contracts are in deprived areas he helps create affordable ‘3 for 2’ offers and the 99p Fab Snacks range. He is also a Springboard FutureChef judge and uses the competition to champion careers in catering and hospitality.
In addition to the Public Sector Catering Award an additional 17 Awards will be handed out including Armed Forces Chef Award, Chef Lecturer Award and Contract catering Chef Award as well as the Special Award. The full list of winners will be made available tomorrow.