Jon Hewett credits his first break as "having the opportunity to accompany my father as a hotel inspector at a very young age and falling in love with the hospitality industry and the wonderful characters found within".
The individual dedication and resulting wealth of anecdotes hooked the young Hewett.
Hewett completed a BTEC HND in hotel, catering and institutional management in the summer of 1987 at Brighton Polytechnic (now University).
Soon afterwards he found himself in his first industry role with the Beefeater restaurant group - part of leisure giant Whitbread - working at the White Hart in Godstone, Surrey, one of the brand's busiest sites. Hewett found his time there particularly beneficial, as the site doubled as one of the company's premier training facilities, where aspiring managers would be sent to job-shadow, gaining on-the-job experience.
In 1989 Hewett moved to the Central Electricity Generating Board, but he hadn't forsaken hospitality. In fact he took on the position of deputy manager of catering at the company's London estate, which had one of the first fully operated cook-chill systems in the marketplace.
Looking for a new challenge, Hewett joined Sutcliffe Catering (Compass) in 1991 as a catering manager. While there he worked on a contract at Cable & Wireless, introducing a staff restaurant, caf‚ and private dining rooms. He also worked on the Salomon Brothers account, which involved running one of the busiest catering establishments in the financial sector, serving more than 2,000 customers a day.
In 1993, Hewett gained promotion to area manager, supporting 20 blue-chip clients in the City and West End of London. During this time he met general manager Stuart Everson on a training course, and from this the seeds of Everson Hewett were sown. In the autumn of 1995 Hewett went into partnership with Everson and their contract catering company was born.
With 45 contracts, 328 full-time staff and £12m annual turnover, the company has continued to progress strongly.
"Always adopt a positive approach to whatever you do, remembering that there's no substitute for being well-mannered and considerate to other people's feelings and opinions," is Hewett's philosophy.
Career highlights
1987 - Manager for Whitbread's Beefeater group
1989 - Moves to Central Electricity Generating Board as deputy manager of catering at its London estate
1991 - Joins Sutcliffe Catering as catering manager
1993 - Becomes an area manager at Sutcliffe Catering
1995 - Forms Everson Hewett with Stuart Everson