First Choice Hosts NHS Mentoring Event Organised by MKN
1 October 2021
In a jam-packed few days at First Choice, leading combi-oven manufacturer, MKN, hosted a three-day mentoring event, cooking competition and recipe inspiration session, dedicated to those working in the NHS.
Taking place from Tuesday 28th September to Thursday 30th September, the event saw chefs from across the healthcare sector converge on the dedicated training facilities and development kitchens at the First Choice Group HQ in Cannock.
Featuring leading guest speakers, including Nick Vadis, Culinary Director at Compass Group and the Chef Ambassador to NHS Supply Chain, Phil Shelley, Chair of NHS Food Review 2020, Emma Brookes, Head of Soft FM Strategy & Operations at NHS England and Dr Rupy Aujla, an NHS GP who started ‘The Doctor’s Kitchen’, the event offered engaging sessions for all. This year’s theme was centred around the future of food, with the NHS Greener Team hosting a talk on ‘The Net Zero Kitchen’ and a live cooking session from Meatless Farm titled ‘Enhancing menu choice for healthy, low carbon eating.’ Sessions on catering for specific dietary requirements and food waste also featured on the agenda.
With mentoring being the purpose for the day, the event introduced the healthcare chefs to key industry mentors who are able to support them to serve the very best food to patients, staff and visitors across the NHS. A Ready Steady ‘Plant Based’ cook-off and a full cookery competition pitted the chefs against one another, all in the name of competitive fun.
Speaking before the event, Stuart Brereton, Business Development Manager at MKN comments:
“We are delighted to be welcoming chefs from our healthcare service to a dedicated mentoring event this month. Hosted at the fantastic facilities of our spare parts partner, First Choice, the two-day event will see a full line-up of speakers, culinary demonstrations, workshops and mentoring sessions, all capped-off by light-hearted cookery competitions. We are all aware of the incredible strain the NHS has been under over the past 18-months, and this includes those working in healthcare catering. At MKN, we want to show our support to this invaluable part of our industry but supporting those working within it. Our thanks go out to all involved, including our partners at First Choice Group, for hosting the event.”
Stuart’s thoughts were echoed by Steven McLaren, Head of Manufacturer Partnerships at First Choice Group:
“When MKN, one of our Exclusive Manufacturer Partners, first told us about the NHS mentoring even they were planning, we were only too happy to support with our dedicated training and kitchen facilities. The pressure that our National Healthcare Service has been under since the start of the pandemic has been almost unprecedented, and therefore anything we can do to show our thanks and our support required no second thought. Held over three days, the team from MKN has created a fantastic agenda, with quality speakers, live cooking demonstrations, moving patient stories and even a nail-biting competition.”
