This Chef Appreciation Week, we speak to Joseph Docherty who recently joined ESS as Head of Culinary Operations for our Government business. He discusses his varied career with Compass, what excites him about joining ESS and his plans and aspirations for our Government food offer.
Talk us through your career history.
I’ve been with Compass for just over five years, having joined the day after the first COVID-19 lockdown was announced. I started with Eurest as the culinary lead for several large contracts in the south east, and the role proved to be a valuable introduction to the business.
After three years, I moved to Restaurant Associates as executive chef for Compass’ global headquarters, Compass House in Chertsey. This high-profile role saw me overseeing a daily breakfast and lunch service for head office colleagues and visitors, as well as regular hospitality and showcase events for the Compass Group Board.
That brought me to my new role within ESS, heading up the culinary operations for our Government sector. I had got to know the ESS management and culinary teams during my time at Chertsey and recognised the sense of ambition within the business, supported by a clear people-focused culture. When the opportunity to take on a culinary leadership role came up, I jumped at the chance! I’m excited by the challenge of a new and growing sector and the scope for development this will provide.
What are your favourite things about working in foodservice?
My response to this question has definitely evolved over time!
Fifteen years ago, I would have talked about the buzz of creating new dishes and concepts, executing these to the best of my ability and providing a great customer experience. While these elements firmly remain, I’m now equally driven by passing on my knowledge and skills to the wider team and nurturing the talent of the future. I’m proud to have taken part in Compass’ ‘Forward with Marcus Wareing’ programme – developing your team was an important part of the course and one that really resonated with me.
What are your plans and aspirations for food in the ESS Government sector?
Having spent the last couple of months out visiting our sites and meeting our teams, I’ve had an incredibly warm welcome and met lots of brilliant people, which means we can do exciting things!
An initial focus is our latest Government menu which we’ll be launching in the coming months. We’re looking forward to delivering a series of brand-new concepts and dishes that meet a range of customer requirements, provide nutritional balance to aid physical and mental wellbeing and support more sustainable dining.
Many of our Government customers, particularly those based in London, have access to a multitude of food options on their doorstep. We want our facilities to be the go-to for these individuals, supporting workplace socialisation and morale, and helping our clients provide a compelling employee proposition to attract and retain the best talent.
What are some of the challenges faced by the sector?
Due to the nature of our clients, we’re subject to a range of specific requirements – this could be anything from compliance with Government Buying Standards when sourcing products and creating menus to security procedures that mean all food must be scanned when entering buildings. In all cases, adherence to our well-established processes is key.
Recruitment and retention will always be more challenging in urban areas where hospitality workers have more options available to them. It’s important that we mitigate this by articulating the benefits of working for us, including sociable hours and extensive opportunities for progression. Our proactive approach to training and developing our people, and promoting from within wherever possible, helps us to retain the great people we already have.
What can we look forward to when it comes to food in ESS Government?
We can’t wait for customers to try our new menu! I’m really excited about the opportunity to build on this as a foundation for the future, ensuring the latest high street trends are always reflected in our offers, along with more traditional favourites.
We’re committed to maximising the potential of the great teams we have across our business, so we’ll be looking to get more colleagues enrolled on formal development programmes, as well as giving them the chance to work on different cuisines and learn different skills for the new concepts we’re introducing.
Operational feeding is an important part of the service we deliver to our emergency services clients. The team have already done a huge amount of work to develop a market-leading offer for customers on duty at planned events and in unplanned scenarios, and we’ll be continuing to build on this.
We’re also looking forward to giving back to our local communities and are excited to be delivering our first Junior Chef Academy this term. The ten-week course, developed by Compass and already delivered across multiple locations in our Defence sector, will see our chefs teaching local schoolchildren cookery skills, followed by a graduation for families and teachers. This is a chance for us to positively impact the next generation, and I’m eager to get started!
