John Andrews – My worst job

John Andrews is the head concierge at the Goring hotel in London.

What has been your worst job?

At the age of 14 I worked on a fast food trailer at Dagenham Sunday market until leaving school at 16. Every Sunday I would get up at 4am and travel 45 minutes to the market. On arrival we would set up and start cooking right away to serve all the other stallholders before the shoppers started to arrive.

To say it was non-stop was an understatement. We even ate on the go and didn't sit down until getting in the car to go home about 3pm. All for just £15.

What was so bad about it?

Having to drag yourself out of bed at 4am, knowing you would be run off your feet all day and feeling as if you had been dunked in a chip pan by mid morning.

What did you learn from the job?

To be organised, tidy and work with speed and accuracy to be able to keep up.

What is the best bit of your current role?

I am proud to be a part of such a fantastic team of people who are all working to provide our guests with service that is second to none.

Many of our guests have been coming to the Goring for years and so we are able to anticipate their requests, ahead of their arrival, and make them feel right at home.

I get complete satisfaction knowing that I can arrange pretty much anything for our guests and making them feel like royalty.

What next?

Since the age of 14 it's been five-star all the way for me, so to give my 21 years of experience to the Goring which has stood proud for almost 100 years is exactly where I want to be. Having said that, we don't stand still, we are constantly looking at ways in which we can do things better - whether that's through training, or just re-assessing the way we work.

Ultimately, I want to keep doing what I do best and that's to provide the best guest service and to become a proud figure in the Goring history.