Teresa Gohil, Catering Manager for the Mobile Catering Division at the NEC
What do you enjoy most about your role?
The most gratifying part of my role is being able to mentor and develop my newly structured young and dynamic team. As the Operational Catering Manager for the Mobile Catering Division, I manage all nonfixed catering units at the NEC. My team are passionate and hungry to do well and I work closely with them and development chefs to create, launch and operate new branded catering concepts.
What draws customers to the mobile catering units you operate?
The units are the perfect place for our customers to meet their clients or friends for a cup of coffee, breakfast or lunch during an exhibition. We are located right next to the exhibitors stands so it’s easy access. Using our insights, we provide bespoke food and drink offers depending on each individual exhibition. Matching the visitor profile is essential because it’s important to keep the customers fuelled for their busy days.
How has your journey been with Amadeus?
I joined Amadeus in October 2012 as an hourly paid multi-skilled operative. I worked hard and Amadeus saw my potential and I was quickly selected for team leading duties. In less than a year I was promoted to the position of Deputy Catering Manager. It provided me with many opportunities to learn from my senior colleagues and I was able to take these lessons and apply my own instincts and understanding of the customer’s needs.
In 2014 I was encouraged to take on a Catering Manager position in the largest and busiest hall in Hall 5 at the NEC. I gained experience working with The Oak Kitchen restaurant and really enjoyed working with the culinary team and also the marketing team. The objective was always making sure the delicious food prepared by our chefs was centre stage. Working with various teams we reorganised the seating, service points and changed our displays to focus our customers attention to the great food choices. The outcome was brilliant with our average spend per transaction increasing by 14% and our Mystery Shopper scores up 10% on previous years. Today, I am delighted to run the Mobile Catering Division team that involves logistical movement, set up and operation of modular catering equipment builds. We operate our feature café and concept food areas and at the same time continue to develop management structure and team leader groups of supervisory staff.
How does the mobile catering support the fixed catering offer?
The mobile catering team is a part in the large NEC Amadeus family. We work with the fixed catering teams to deliver great customer experiences every day. The mobile catering units are perfect for large volume exhibitions because we can cater for massive spikes in exhibition attendance which is essential during the busy but short lunch period.
As a recent finalist of the ACE Robyns Awards, how was this experience?
It has been an absolute honour being shortlisted for the 2017 awards. It means a lot being recognised at such a prestigious level, considering that my career in this world only really started only few years ago. It has motivated me even more to help develop young talented people using my own experiences.
