Linda Halliday, co-founder and director, Wilson Storey Halliday
There were several strong contenders for this year's Food Service Caterer of the Year award, but one person's inexhaustible contribution to the industry singled her out.
Linda Halliday was hailed by the judges as the "energy behind Springboard", a "very good" chairwoman of the British Hospitality Association and a "tireless fundraiser" for charities such as Kids Out and Hospitality Action.
One judge - and a business rival - said: "Since I have known Linda, she has had a track record of giving back to the industry. She's always calling me up to move certain issues forward."
Another pointed out Halliday's exemplary commitment to young people through her support of training initiatives: "To me, Springboard is a huge charity to raise money for. It needs £1.5m a year and she plays a key part - it requires all of us to participate."
Everybody, it seems, knows Halliday. When she's not tapping companies for money to raise awareness of the industry as a good career, she's attending an Arena lunch, chairing the food and service management forum of the BHA or organising a charity ball. "Her name is always popping up," commented another judge.
If all her hard work for charities and industry boards were not enough to commend Halliday for this award, she is also a founder member of one of the fastest-growing food service companies in the UK.
In 2000 she took the big step of merging her company, Halliday Catering Services, with Wilson Storey, owned by Alastair Storey and Keith Wilson. The Wilson-Halliday partnership was a shrewd move, enabling Halliday to grow her business - which at the time had a turnover of £23m - further. In the past 18 months, the new company has expanded to 152 contracts, and now turns over £45m a year and employs about 1,500 staff.
Within the company, Halliday has taken up the role of human resources director. It's a position she is well suited to. In an interview earlier this year (Caterer, 20 February, page 46) she said: "I think it was a subconscious decision to take the HR route because I wanted to influence people's perceptions of workers in the service industry. I personally wouldn't treat a kitchen porter any differently to a top client."
One quality Halliday has in spadefuls is strength and determination. That was never demonstrated more than in 1995, when her husband George died. Many thought that she would sell the business, but they clearly didn't know Halliday.
Not only is she determined to push the contract catering industry on, turning the economic gloom to advantage by promoting it as a career choice in universities and colleges, Halliday also has a knack of generating business success, said the judges.
Judges
ROGER DENTON Head of catering service, London Borough of Sutton
STELLA GARDENE Operations manager, Medirest
DAVID GRAINGE Food operations manager, De Vere Group
SUE KILBEY Chairman, Local Authority Caterers Association
NICK MOORE Food development director, Scottish & Newcastle Retail
BILL TONER Chief executive, Aramark
TIM WEST Chief executive, Avenance
Previous Winners:
2002 Bill Toner
2001 Charles Boyd
2000 Chris Hind
1999 Fergus Chambers
1998 Tim West
1997 Don Davenport
1996 William Baxter & Robert Platts
1995 Frank Bell
1994 Roger Davis
1993 Jacqui Newton
1992 Avril Robertson
1991 Robbie Brown
1990 Charles Allen
1989 Marc Verstringhe
1988 Arnold Fewell
1987 Brian Watts
1986 Sheila Mitchell
1985 Mary Scott Morgan
1984 Jean Alexander
Sponsored by: P & G Professional
Sponsor message:
Past winners of this prestigious award all have their own particular strengths, but there is a common theme that unites them. Whether in business and industry, education or healthcare and institutional catering, the winner will almost certainly be running a successful business and will show a dedication both to their own company and to the industry as a whole.
P&G Professional, provider of professional laundry, cleaning and resale solutions, is both delighted and proud to be sponsoring the Food Service Caterer of the Year Catey. P&G Professional understands that within hospitality great reputations are built on details, and alongside skills in combining innovation and sound financial performance the overall winner of this category will demonstrate how attention to detail makes them outstanding in their field.
Working closely with its customers, P&G Professional helps to positively enhance the reputation of their establishments. This includes providing superior cleaning solutions, whether products or total cleaning systems; providing the reassurance of well known and respected brands; working to improve the cleaning experience for the staff involved; and building relationships with their customers based on transparency, openness and a two-way exchange of knowledge.
P&G Professional would like to take this opportunity to wish the nominees in this category the very best of luck.
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