Contracting: no longer the ugly sister

CHALLENGING, promising and secure: a career in contract catering would appear an attractive proposition to the most ambitious of recruits. There are few split shifts; most contracts involve working five days during the week; weekend or evening working is rare; and there is often clear progression through management hierarchies for those with the ability and inclination to climb.

Yet the industry is still battling a negative image. Traditionally seen as little better than basic canteen catering, the sector is too often the last choice for graduates.

"It's still not an attractive option," says Chris Sheppardson, managing director of recruitment agency The Chess Partnership. "Students continue to look to hotels and restaurants as their first port of call. It's only later, when they are fed up with the long hours and the insecurity, that they transfer into contract catering."

Sheppardson blames the colleges for perpetuating the image by not understanding the industry themselves.

"They don't have the time to come out into the industry to learn about it, so they can't show the students what it's like," he says. "Graduates leave college thinking contract catering is all about dinner ladies and staff canteens."

John Stacey, human resources director at Gardner Merchant, has also witnessed the bias toward hotels and restaurants. He believes it's because most lecturers have come from those sectors rather than contract catering.

"Hotels and restaurants are seen as glamorous and exciting, but people coming into contract catering from college find it quite an eye-opener to see what it's really like," he says.

Those who have already taken the jump argue that the industry is far from stuffy and boring. Tanya Leisinger, 27-year-old general manager of Leith's at the Natural History Museum, claims that every day is different and challenging. "In what other industry could I have the responsibility I have here so early in my career?" she asks.

But the sector is fighting its Cinderella image. Dominated as it is by the big three, Compass, Gardner Merchant and Granada Food Service, contract catering can offer a wealth of opportunity, variety and different levels of service, and the sector is pushing hard to publicise this.

Huge changes

"There has been a huge change in the industry in the past 10 years," says Mike Spiller, group personnel and training director of Granada Food Service. "Food standards are significantly higher. At the World Culinary Championships in Luxembourg last year, Sutcliffe Catering won 10 gold, six silver and three bronze medals. It is a testament to how the industry is getting better. Our catering is better than that of many hotels."

He also argues that the high profile of the contract catering companies in the business world is turning heads and changing attitudes. "The fact that we and others in the sector are in the Financial Times' FTSE 100 counts for a lot," he adds.

Contract catering can compete with hotels on the quality of food and also on the levels of service and international nature of the business. Many of the contracts are high-profile, glamorous affairs, such as the Brit Awards and the major sporting events. In the bigger companies there is also the opportunity to weave in and out of different sectors.

"Because Granada is a large, international business, employees have opportunities to work abroad," says Spiller. "They can also transfer between sectors of industry. We have five-star hotels as well as contract catering contracts in prisons, hospitals, schools and the defence sector."

To get the message across, the employers are going out to the colleges to tell those who influence career choices about the industry. Students are able to talk directly to the companies and pick up glossy brochures illustrating the full variety of the sector. The companies have also cottoned on to the Internet, and are reaching out to possible recruits via their own Web sites.

The right stuff

It's not just the hospitality graduates the industry wants to attract, though, but anyone who has the right personality.

"We want people with the right attributes: intelligence, but also personality. Contract catering is very client-oriented. It's not just about marketing ourselves; we need people who will sell us through their interpersonal skills as well as their management ability," says Stacey.

To win these other students, the sector is emphasising how skills learned in this area can easily be transferred to other industries with customer service businesses. It is also promoting its graduate development programmes. Most major employers offer this opportunity. Granada and Gardner Merchant both have schemes, for example, and are reaping the benefits of well-trained and motivated managers.

"We have three schemes: the executive trainee programme aimed at degree graduates, the management trainee programme aimed at GNVQ students or even direct entry people, and finally our craft programme to train top-quality chefs," explains Stacey.

Investment in training

Gardner Merchant spends more than £4m a year on training and development, a cost which is not lost on those coming into the industry. "The colleges are beginning to recognise our investment, and students can see we are serious in what we offer," Stacey adds.

Most graduate schemes in contract catering run for between 12 and 18 months, allowing ample opportunity for the candidates to taste all the different elements of the sector. Each company has places for 10 or 12 graduates, who will be chosen by a process which includes work experience, interviews and assessment days where both parties can decide if contract catering is the right place for the applicant. By the end of the graduate training scheme, each will be offered a managerial post.

"We have thousands of opportunities every year," reveals Granada Food Services's Spiller. "There are 16,000 vacancies in all levels each year, and with 4,300 units, every one of which needs a manager and a managerial hierarchy, there is plenty of choice for recruits."

Nevertheless, many of contract catering's recruits are still people who have been in hospitality for some years, usually in hotels or restaurants.

"Many people coming into contract catering are in their thirties. They are fed up of the insecurity, the split shifts and the lack of career opportunities in the other sectors," says Sheppardson. "They want promotion and security."

But contract catering is one of the fastest-growing sectors, and employers need new recruits straight from school and college - so much so that they are making much more of an effort to attract new, younger people into the market. They are highlighting the opportunities, excitement and challenges open to someone willing to work hard. They want their industry to be seen less as Cinderella and more as the Fairy Godmother, with the ability to make careers bloom. n