James Witts Email and Phone Number

NEW CAREER KLAXON!!!Having remained loyal to the catering and hospitality industry for 25 years, I have unshackled myself and set up business in the outdoors.Happy to provide any traditional dry stone walling around Northumberland, including agricultural walls, domestic/garden features, and fixing holes in walls after muppets in expensive cars drive through them.As a freelance outdoor guide, I am available for any outdoor adventures you might like to try, including hill walking, mountaineering, climbing /scrambling, navigation, Duke of Edinburgh, equipment advice, and so on. Website to follow.

Member of the Facilities & Fair Access management team with responsibilities for all catering services in first, primary, middle, secondary and high schools across North Tyneside, as well as further contracts in Northumberland, Hartlepool, Darlington and Sunderland.Outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to perform multiple tasks under pressure are required in this wide-ranging and highly rewarding role. I love my role, and am able to fully utilise my 20-years experience in the customer- facing hospitality sector, whether this is menu-development, recruitment, project management, audits, H&S (including all Risk Assessments and SSW), kitchen safety, food safety (including COSHH, HACCP, etc), budgeting, marketing.This is a multi-site management role.Role includes liaising closely with all stakeholders including Head Teachers, school Governors, parents, equipment maintenance companies, food-service delivery drivers and all Council departments (employee services, HR, development, building services, etc). Currently undertaking the ILM 5 diploma in Operational Management.

Directly responsible for the core catering management team and 80 casual staff. My role includes all relevant management responsibilities for the catering department in this busy and iconic music venue in the North East: weekly forecasting and monthly P&L; all H&S issues including COSHH, HACCP, RIDDOR, etc; online procurement; asset management; restaurant booking systems; working with the Head Chef to create exciting and innovative seasonal and locally inspired menus; event management; rotas; client liaison; customer feedback; training & development of my team

Responsible for 13 staff including reception and security, and overall management of all Hard and Soft services in a brand new student accommodation development with 993 available beds • responsibility for all Health and Safety within the building, including COSHH, HACCP and RIDDOR • liaising with suppliers and subcontractors • recruitment • payroll and billing • developing strategies to promote student living with Sodexo

Directly manage 14 staff including one assistant operations manager, as well as assisting in the management of over 30 housekeeping staff and 7 reception staff, including departmental managers and supervisors • management of legislative aspects of events (RA & MS, public liability insurance, licensing ) • recruitment • management of Hard & Soft services • project management • Training & Development champion • Environment champion • monitoring and managing budgets and expenditure • writing and implementing documents including SOPs and training schedules • managing disciplinary procedures (including performance management issues) and writing reports and recommendations • liaising with the Estates and Buildings department, as well as other sub-contractors • arrangement and management of maintenance (planned, reactive and cyclical) • management of all Health & Safety issues such as COSHH, HACCP and RIDDOR and creation and implementation of risk assessments • staff enrolment • departmental self-assessment and auditing • escalating any relevant issues to Human Resources and Occupational Health • excellent experience of Microsoft IT software (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) • overseeing maintenance work in colleges and ensuring that start times and method statements are being adhered to • building and maintaining relationships with both internal and external clients and stakeholders • management of college transport • designing waste reduction and paperless initiatives • use of a management tool known as 3MTM (Manpower, Machinery, Method, Time & Money

Direct responsibility for 18 team members over two large colleges and providing fully catered package for 1000 residential students over two sites as well as catering for regular student, commercial and bespoke VIP events • monitoring catering budgets • attending procurement meetings and site visits with suppliers, as well as building and maintaining relationships with key suppliers • ensuring the asset register and stock-sheets were reviewed and updated annually • routine kitchen maintenance • menu development & implementation including commercial buffet menus, weekly conference menus, bespoke event menus and canapé/bowl-food menus • creating training & development awareness and opportunities for all 400 catering team members • implementation of a Quality Management System and experience of ISO:9001

Head chef of a small yet busy and successful kitchen in the heart of the busy resort of Queenstown. Assisted and oversaw a menu evolution to make Captains Restaurant one of the top-end restaurants in the town. During this period we broke records for the number of meals served on New Years Day (451) - we also broke our own record the following day (453).

Member of a brigade of chefs who worked under Kenny Coltman at this boutique, award winning hotel/restaurant at the foot of Arthurs Seat in Edinburgh.

Sixteen months experience in the Conferencing & Banqueting section followed by eight months experience in the a la carte restaurant. Hotel Sofitel Melbourne was considered one of the top end 5-Star Hotels in the country and therefore the standards and expectations were exceedingly high. We catered for many very high profile events on a regular basis, using full plated service for many of the functions. Weekly VIP buffets were presented in the 36th floor restaurant. A personal high-light here was catering for a function to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ascent of Mt Everest - Sir Edmund Hillary himself was the Guest of Honour!

Two years experience in both the hot and cold sections of the Conference & Banqueting department. Function rooms included the 850-seat Ballroom, two smaller function suites (60-80 seats) and the Penthouse Suite, often these rooms were all in use simultaneously. The high profile nature of the Dorchester Hotel meant that standards were extremely high and there was little room for error. Types of service available for events included Silver Service and full-plated service using state of the art Rational ovens. Here I had the opportunity to work alongside top-class chefs including Gordon Ramsey and Charlie Trotter. Typical examples of the types of functions we catered for included the annual Chefs Conference Dinner 2001, and the 50th Anniversary of Formula 1 in Great Britain. Guests would often include celebrities, musicians, actors, politicians and various members of the Royal family.