Acorns 2020: Tom McMillan, 28

Food and beverage manager, Park Plaza London Waterloo

Nominator Wayne Kerrin

In 2014 Tom McMillan started at Park Plaza as events floor manager for Park Plaza London Riverbank and was quickly promoted to deputy events operations manager. He was voted employee of the year by his managers and peers for his success in managing 21 meeting rooms with a capacity of over 800 delegates and a turnover of £7m. This led to him being identified as future talent within the group and his subsequent promotion to events operations manager at Park Plaza Victoria London, where he led a team of 25 delivering £5m in annual revenue across 17 meeting rooms.

McMillan significantly boosted the staff retention rate and team engagement at Park Plaza Victoria. His commitment to these areas resulted in 16 promotions and transfers and a reduction of over 30% in annual team turnover.

A keen ambassador for hospitality, he proudly introduces young people to the industry. He has worked with the Springboard charity throughout his career and is also an advocate for Drive Forward Foundation, a charity supporting care-leavers aged 16-26 to move into a career.

Do you think the hospitality industry could be more sustainable? Not just in terms of plastics and waste but in terms of careers and diversity, training and growth?

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an inevitable impact on how the hospitality industry approaches sustainability. Although this period has exacerbated demand for single-use packaging because people feel it's safer, the pressure to be innovative has turbo-charged our focus on sustainability, with work-life balance and promoting employees' health and wellbeing now top of the agenda.

Who is your hospitality hero?

There are so many people who inspire me – it would be impossible to choose one.