Stevens takes command of Eurest defence sector

Unexploded mines and horse manure are among the hazards faced by catering staff supporting the Armed Forces on the Falkland Islands, said the newly appointed operations director last week.

Paul Stevens will oversee the catering, cleaning and other subcontracted services of Eurest's Defence Support Services for mainland Great Britain, the Falklands and Ascension Island.

The new post follows the merger of the defence divisions of Granada and Compass, making it the world's biggest defence caterer. It includes 56 contracts covering 78 sites, turns over about £80m per year, employs 7,000 staff and serves more than 30 million meals a year.

Stevens has acted as operations director for Granada Defence Services for the past eight years and before that he spent 17 years with Compass.

He said the main problem on the Falklands lay in getting staff. All but four of the 200 staff were recruited from the island of St Helena - whose inhabitants are British subjects - and it typically took six weeks to fill a vacancy. The 2,000 Falkland islanders, most of whom are landowners, aren't interested in the work.

Food had to be shipped in, and Stevens said there had been times when the military base had come close to running out of supplies as it awaited the arrival of a ship during bad weather. Poor vegetation on the islands meant the base had to import long-life milk in cartons and run its own bakery.

It also had to run its own laundry and dry cleaning service - an operation requiring 12 full-time staff - plus cobbling and tailoring services.

Stevens said similar problems existed in the smaller Ascension Island, which has no indigenous population and is peopled by US and UK air force personnel and contractors. All but five of the 60 staff here are also St Helenians.

by Angela Frewin