Louis Coward

I was excited to be offered a year-long opportunity to work as a community pioneer/events manager for CSR, a charity run by the Diocese of Portsmouth, which I was involved with during the pandemic years. I assisted in coordinating and delivering two projects alongside volunteers with an emphasis on community engagement work and helping people In this role have developed my skills of:

• Clear communication (both written and in person) with a wide variety of people
• Solving problems quickly and effectively managing expectations
• Leading volunteers and engaging with them to complete different tasks.
• Basic finance sheets and reporting on them

I Joined the Soho House Group originally as a chef and was soon seconded to helping the front-of-house team as well. My role adapted depending on where and when management needed meI was able to work in multiple locations, from the small, intimate Chiswick High Road House to the 100-acre, complex Soho Farmhouse based in Oxfordshire

Being part of a large, globally recognized organisation taught me:

• How to be consistent and maintain very high standards in a professional way
• How to work well within a team and the value of clear communication
• How to work well under pressure and remain organised and give instructions
• The ability to take clear instructions and deliver them
• How to teach new members of staff about consistency and how to deliver to high standards on a large scale.
• How to meet the demands of both higher management and guests

I joined Vanilla Catering and Events to gain experience of a different sort of cheffing: high-quantity and high-quality food delivered to various locations and events from weddings to corporate activities throughout Hampshire. It was here I learnt

• How to overcome obstacles and challenges a venue could present and how to think quickly on my feet
• Menu planning, bearing in mind seasonality and cost and how to logistically deliver good-quality food consistently for a wide range of numbers
• How to meet the demands of guests and deal with complaints or difficult issues