A leading North East care and leisure organisation has appointed one of the country’s most experienced chefs to head its catering operation.
In a first for the company, Newcastle-based Malhotra Group plc has created the role of executive chef and recruited Master Chef of Great Britain, Norman MacKenzie, to the position.
In a career spanning almost 30 years, Norman, who is also a Craft Guild of Chefs Master Craftsman and former Hospitality Guild Mentor of the Year, has worked at hotels across the UK.
He holds a number of advanced qualifications relating to staff training and food safety and joins Malhotra Group plc from the Feversham Arms Hotel, Helmsley, North Yorkshire, where he was head chef.
In his new role, he will be tasked with designing and reviewing menus for all food outlets within the Group’s care and leisure operations, including its 11 care home facilities along with its Tyneside bars and restaurants.
These include Osbornes, Jesmond and Scalini’s restaurants at Jesmond and Gosforth.
He will also be closely involved in the design and layout of new and existing kitchens, provide training for all senior kitchen employees and ensure food production consistently exceeds customers’ expectations.
Welcoming Norman to the company, Atul Malhotra, operations director at Malhotra Group PLC, said: “We are exceptionally fortunate to have secured someone with this level of experience and ability.
“Not only is Norman an exceptionally skilled chef but he is highly trained in all areas of food compliance and staff development, which are crucial to the smooth and satisfactory running of our operation.
“Along with our existing portfolio of leisure sites and care homes we have a number of exciting plans in the pipeline and Norman will be instrumental in ensuring we have in place a cohesive, strategic catering policy as our company continues its expansion programme.”
Following his appointment, Norman, from Thirsk, said: “I am very much looking forward to joining Malhotra Group plc, which has an excellent reputation for quality across all areas of its portfolio.
“They have a very skilled, creative and enthusiastic workforce and I’m excited about what we will be able to achieve together.”