Catering Boss says goodbye to dome
By David Shrimpton
The man who was masterminding the catering arrangements for the Millennium Dome has quit. His successor will have just 18 months to make sure that the millions of expected visitors are not left hungry or thirsty.
Max Booth, who was leading negotiations with contract caterers and branded restaurant groups to provide food and drink at the Millennium Dome site, is leaving to join an unnamed firm in Dubai that runs "major international retail catering brands".
Catering at the Dome is expected to turn over at least £60m and possibly more than £100m. The selection process to find a contractor is nearing its final stages, with four companies now shortlisted.
Ken Robinson, operations director at the New Millennium Experience, admitted the loss of Booth was a blow. "I'm really annoyed that there's a limit to our ability to retain him," he said.
Norman Tebbit - once dubbed the Chingford skinhead - brought his renowned aggression to the beef-on-the-bone debate last week, when he defiantly confided to the House of Lords that he had shared a T-bone steak with his dog.
Lord Tebbit made his confession during a debate which discussed the decision ofa Scottish court to throw out the prosecution of hotelier Jim Sutherland for allegedly flouting the ban (Caterer, 30 April, page 9).
The decision was described as "sensible" by Lord Steel of Aikwood, who called for Parliament to consider withdrawing the ban altogether.
Lord Donoughue, the Government's agriculture minister in the Lords, refused to comment as the matter is sub judice and subject to appeal but he was further quizzed by Lord Tebbit over the legality of sharing a T-bone steak with his dog.
Lord Tebbit went on to ask how a butcher could break the law by selling oxtail for the making of a soup, while it is not illegal to sell soup made from oxtail, provided the soup was made by a commercial manufacturer.
"If in the restaurant the soup is prepared from meat that has been properly removed from the bone of the oxtail, there is no danger. We wait with anticipation to see whether Lord Tebbit will suffer from his highly publicised meal," replied Lord Donoughue.
Dinner ladies in Staffordshire schools are to get counselling for stress.
Staffordshire County Council has extended its free £35-a-session counselling, previously available only to social workers, to all employees, including the catering staff at its 450 schools.
A note in last week's pay packets advised caterers that they could have two sessions lasting an hour each to discuss anything from marital problems to difficulties at work.
"We felt there could be a need for it in other departments that interface with the public. It's a service that could minimise sickness," said a council spokesman.
Unions have welcomed the move. Keith Westley, Unison's regional officer for Staffordshire, said: "People who work in kitchens are every bit asvulnerable to stress as everyone else. Absence from work is often directly linked to stressat work."
Contract caterers bidding for school meals contracts in Staffordshire will have to provide stress counselling for catering staff under employment transfer laws.
