Old dog learning new tricks in lots of areas

During the past month, apart from the normal day-to-day routine, there have been a few interesting and different things going on.

The first was attending the Advisory Body for Social Services Catering (ABSSC) annual conference. It was an excellent two days and, as a first-time attendee, I was very impressed with the quality of the speakers and the organisation of the conference.

One speaker highlighted the fact that we are all living longer and that soon we could see four and even five generations of a family alive at the same time. As was stated, we could have 70-year-olds looking after 90-year-old parents. It may make the prospect of working longer very attractive to some people.

We are soon to become responsible for delivering frozen meals to the elderly as part of a new meals-on-wheels contract. Because this is something new to me, I visited a frozen-meal delivery service in Staffordshire for experience.

After being shown round the central storage area, I hopped into a van with one of the delivery men, and off we went into the wilds of the Potteries. Working in a London borough, you forget how close everything is and how densely populated London is compared with other parts of the country. We were on the road for 30 minutes before we reached the area we were to deliver to.

Finally, I took a week off and went to the island of Rhodes. The restaurateurs there, like many other caterers in the Mediterranean, have a different attitude when it comes to encouraging customers into their restaurants and bars. They actually talk to you on the street, invite you in personally, discuss the menu with you and offer you samples of the food, while still standing outside.

Service is second nature and, no matter how young the staff, they all know how to make customers feel special.

As we went through customs at Rhodes airport to catch our plane home in the early hours of the morning, the three customs officials who were checking us in were all singing together and laughing. So the past month has been a real learning experience.

I have concluded that there is nothing to be said for growing old but, if you've got the money, retire to Greece. At least it's warm and sunny. n

RICHARD WARE is head of catering and house services at the London Borough of Havering

Next diary from Richard Ware: 24 August