The career development support and opportunities offered by multi-award winning operator Anglian Country Inns has helped one of its chefs win an Acorn Award 2019.
Joe Walker, who at just 23 is executive head chef at ACI’s biggest food site Hermitage Rd Bar & Restaurant in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, has been recognised as one of the hospitality industry’s brightest stars under 30. He is being presented with his award at a ceremony at 5* hotel Cowarth Park in Berkshire today.
Walker said, “I’m thrilled to win this award. I always had an ambition to get to my role, which I have achieved through hard work, strong personal drive and the support of ACI.
“I feared my age would be looked at as being too young for management roles, but the opportunities have been there at ACI and I have reached out and grabbed them.”
Walker started working at the company, which employs around 100 kitchen team members across its nine sites, at 16 working weekends in the kitchen whilst studying catering at North Hertfordshire College.
He worked at ACI, which has a BII NITA for its ‘Rising Stars’ management programme and staff ethos, for 1 and a half years before leaving to gain experience in other kitchens.
He returned to the company as a junior sous chef, quickly becoming sous chef within five months and head chef after two years. He was appointed into his current executive chef role at Hermitage Rd, leading a team of eight chefs, two years ago.
Hermitage Rd Bar & Restaurant, which features in the Good Food Guide 2019 and Michelin Guide 2019, serves up to 2,000 covers a week across its restaurant and coffee shop.
James Nye, the company’s managing director said: “Joe has put an incredible amount of effort into getting where he is in his career and I am so pleased that he has been given this much deserved recognition by the industry.
“It goes to show you can achieve great things at a young age. Joe came to us at 16 with few skills but a winning attitude and within six years he is developing a phenomenal team, in our biggest site with multi-million pound food budgets.”
Three quarters of ACI’s head chefs and general managers are home grown within the business. Its head of food also started with the company as a chef de partie.
ACI offer an excellent career pathway and extensive training opportunities for its team members including apprenticeships, with nine currently working at the company.
Walker added, “ACI is a great company to work for, supportive and appreciative with lots of opportunities for those who want to learn and progress and have the right attitude.”
Nye, who himself is currently doing a level seven MBA apprenticeship, said, “We offer an environment where chefs thrive as they feel listened too and can be creative, as each site’s menu is individual. We cultivate talent and look after our team like family.”
ACI has achieved a three-star rating with the Sustainable Restaurant Association for the past three years, an accreditation which focuses significantly on how well a company looks after its people.
Among benefits and support that ACI offers team members are chef inspiration trips, free gym memberships for senior team members, an annual MAD (Making a Difference) trip to Europe which attendees are voted on to by colleagues and an employee assistance programme with Hospitality Action.
The company is also launching mental health awareness training for senior managers to help them recognise and support people in their teams facing these issues.
