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“We actually have more contracts now than we had
pre-pandemic” Antony Prentice
Brydon predominantly oversees London contracts, while Prentice looks after those in the regions. Other responsibilities are divided and the pair co-chair monthly head of department meetings, where all members of the leadership team are given the oppor- tunity to contribute to strategy and direction. Both Prentice and Brydon have spent a significant period of their careers with BM (see panel) and say its success is highly per- sonal. Brydon adds: “We treat it as if it’s our business. It’s personal to us, so when we’re building those relationships with clients and with the teams it really means something.” Working together has bought benefits includ-
the journey to BM
Antony Prentice Prentice worked in a number of hospitality venues as a teenager before undertaking a hospitality degree. From there he worked in Israel, France and Australia, moving from hotels and restaurants into contract catering.
He worked in airport contracts for Sutcliffe, which later became Eurest under Compass. In 2005 he joined Restaurant Associates, also part of Compass Group, as group performance manager, overseeing airport lounges and latterly group contracts. He joined Bartlett Mitchell in 2011 as an area business manager and went on to hold roles including operations business manager, operations director and divisional managing director, before being appointed joint managing director in 2022.
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ing the increased time the pair can spend on-site with teams and clients. It also aids swift decision making for both clients and colleagues. “Decisions have to be made and if decisions
are made early on, the fruitfulness of that is realised early,” Brydon explains. “Having two managing directors puts us in a position where we can do that – it doesn’t have to be a laborious process to get an answer”. In further positioning itself for the future
the caterer made a number of investments in initiatives to support existing and new cli- ents. These include the launch of Atelier, two offsite support kitchens (one in London’s Millbank and the second in the City of Lon- don which allow the caterer to support existing on-site teams and offer delivered-in catering solutions, with team members in place on-site to facilitate and serve. Brydon says: “It’s a really exciting change
in the marketplace that gives additional secu- rity to existing kitchens by providing back-up if things go wrong or if they undergo a refurbish- ment, and it allows us to initiate contracts we couldn’t before. It’s not a purely delivered-in offer – we still have customer service alongside that and it’s not a carbon copy for all clients.” The individuality afforded to each site and contract continues to be something BM places
at the forefront of its offer. Even within the same contract different sites will have indi- vidual menus, developed in consultation with the contract leads and the client. Internally it’s not just clients that have looked to improve their employee offer and BM has overhauled its benefits scheme as it looks to maintain its attractiveness in a competitive market- place. Its position as an employer of choice is reflected in an industry leading Glassdoor score of 4.6 out of five, and a decade spent on the Best Companies to Work For UK list. Prentice says: “We’ve completely revamped
our employee benefit scheme since Covid. We’ve always had strong benefits, but we’ve launched a whole tranche of new benefits including enhancing maternity, paternity and grandparent leave. We’ve also had a campaign highlighting the benefits of working in our sec- tor and the work-life balance we’re able to offer.” There has also been a focus on employee progression and structural changes have been introduced to provide a smoother journey into management and operational positions for team members. Brydon says: “We’ve created new roles to allow
site managers to take on more of an operational role. With client support they’re being moved from a general manager role to an account manager or director role, where they will take on two, three, maybe four other contracts and that allows them to grow. Going from a site oper- ator to a 10- or 12-site operator is a very big step and this allows for measured growth with the additional benefit that clients get real, individual focus and attention. We’ve had a great response. “Out turnover of team members is very low.
Part of that is that once you’re here, you’re part of something. You’re part of our growth and that’s exciting. Our head of talent started out as a butler in Canary Wharf – we’ve shown how that journey can happen.” The joint managing directors have also enrolled in a leadership management
22 March 2024 | The Caterer | 21
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PHOTOS: PAUL WINCH-FURNESS; DAVID COTSWORTH
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