How I got here
Iain Anderson knew at the tender age of 13 that he wanted to work in the hospitality industry. However, he probably couldn't have guessed the direction his career path would take on the way to his current role as the head of Sodexho Healthcare.
His career started in the Swallow Hotels group. At the age of 27 he became the group's youngest general manager when he took over at the 85-bedroom Bruce hotel in East Kilbride.
Having cut his teeth on hotel management in Scotland, Anderson was dispatched south of the border to the St John's hotel in Solihull, West Midlands, the group's largest conferencing and banqueting hotel, until in 1992 he took a sudden career change and went from hotels into private hospital management.
When Anderson moved into the healthcare industry he didn't have an ounce of experience in clinical care, so he had to watch up to 100 operations to get to grips with the working environment and what made health consultants tick.
It was quite a challenge to jump industries, but he doesn't regret the move at all. "It was my biggest career break, moving from hotels to healthcare. It gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my hotel management and commercial skills in a different environment."
His first job in that sector was as a director of Bupa's Murrayfield Hospital in Edinburgh, which he held until 1995, when he became a regional manager responsible for 12 private hospitals. Five years later, before taking his current job at Sodexho, Anderson became managing director of Primecare, the primary care division of Nestor Healthcare, a company providing out-of-hours cover for doctors' surgeries.
However different the two sectors might appear to be, it was Anderson's blend of hotel management experience and background in running private hospitals that made him such a strong candidate for the top job in Sodexho's healthcare division.
Now he is responsible for the second-largest business within the Sodexho group, operating in about six core markets in the healthcare sector, including the NHS, Private Finance Initiatives, home service, private hospitals, seniors and retail in healthcare.
He says his most valuable skills are people skills and communication, honed while working in the hotel sector, which is why Anderson feels so strongly that a career change can be beneficial.
And his advice to anyone plotting their own career path is: "Don't be afraid to take a gamble and to listen to those with more experience. Be confident in your ability and don't be afraid to take a risk."
Career highlights
1989
General manager, St John's hotel, Solihull, West Midlands
1992
Director of Bupa's Murrayfield Hospital, Edinburgh
1995
Regional manager, Bupa
2000
Managing director, Primecare primary care division
2003
Managing director of Sodexho Healthcare
