Free after 14 years – with a little time off for good behaviour

The month since my last diary started off in quite a sad way when the head chef at our police headquarters retired after 14 years' loyal service. He left with quite a fanfare.

The date happened to coincide with the chief constable's retirement as well, so he was invited to share a drink with the chief after one of his last official dinners, which he was honoured to accept.

Of course, we couldn't let him go without a little farewell party as well, so we arranged an informal get-together for all the catering staff at HQ to present him with an original pencil drawing by a local artist.

The staff also organised a collection of items to remind him of his time working with them, and one of the team baked him a cake and decorated it to represent his favourite hobby - gardening. He'll have plenty of time to develop that hobby now he has retired.

Despite our sadness at seeing him go, a good time was had by all, and he certainly got a great send-off.

The company-wide training programme I have mentioned previously is continuing, with the latest two-day workshop focusing on ensuring we all completely understand the new accounting systems for unit business management. It is really important that, as a district manager, I understand the new systems fully and the different requirements the individual units have.

That is just one of the training courses I have attended over the past few weeks, and there are more to come.

Over the same period, I have had the opportunity to visit one of our contracts in the Northampton area. It was that bit more interesting for me when I discovered it was the place that, many years ago, my husband had to go to be issued with his Royal Air Force uniform.

I discovered on the visit that the old hangars are still standing and are now listed buildings. It does beg the question: how can they find an alternative use for aircraft hangars?

In our company we have a policy of sharing information and best practice, and my trip to Northampton is a good example of that.

As the Devon & Cornwall Constabulary contract includes the provision of a wide range of services, we find that we are often used as a reference site. A couple of weeks ago a fellow district manager spent a few days with me to see how we operate, as she has just received a selection of cleaning contracts within her area - an excellent demonstration of sharing best practice. n

Sara Carless is Sodexho's district manager for the Devon & Cornwall Constabulary

Next diary from Sara Carless: 3 October