Hannah Clifton

Name: Hannah Clifton

Employer: BaxterStorey

Area of work: Foodservice management

University: Bournemouth University

Subject: BSc hospitality business development

I have always enjoyed food so I decided to study the area further at university, having worked part time in local restaurants and hotels during school holidays. When looking for an industrial placement for my university course, a family friend suggested contract catering and I contacted my current employer, as their head office is in my home town. After graduating, I came back to the company and worked for six months to save up to go travelling for a year. I then returned once again.

My job

I provide catering to a location served by the contract catering company I work for. I have eight members of staff and we cater for around 600 people. My five main responsibilities are: training personnel and staff; managing location accounts; ordering consumables and planning menus; managing health, safety and food hygiene; and ensuring that service is up to company standards. I also deal with hospitality requests or queries; check breakfast and lunch services are set up correctly; liaise with the chef about any menu changes; talk to suppliers regarding any new products I may want to stock; and complete till and safe reconciliation.

Best and worst

I love meeting and working with lots of different people, and always learning new ways of doing things. It can be frustrating to deal with customers who wouldn’t know good food if it smacked them round the head!