There will be celebrations today at Amadeus as Group Executive
Head Chef, Paul Gould, celebrates his 35th anniversary with the
business. Paul, now 57 began his career with The NEC Group back in
1976 before the then 'National Exhibition Centre' had even opened,
he says "My new boss took me to the centre of a field on the
outskirts of Solihull and said 'this is where your kitchen will
be'. I never dreamed how it would evolve and 35 years later that
I'd still be here! It's a great place to work."
Paul is the only chef in Great Britain to hold the title of Gold
at: The World Culinary Olympics, The Banqueting Chef of the Year
Award, The Grand Prix D'Honneur and The Arthur Hope Trophy at the
British Cookery Open Championships.
As Executive Head Chef of Amadeus, The NEC Group's catering
business, Paul is responsible for catering for over 900 events a
year and for 4.1 million visitors. From Clothes Show Live at The
NEC to the Conservative Party Conference at The ICC, Paul oversees
menu design and kitchen management for everything from a light
lunch for the public to banquets for international statesmen. Ask
Paul who he has cooked for in the public eye and his answer is
simple "Who haven't I cooked for would be easier to answer!" he
says. "I've cooked for the Queen, the late Princess Diana, Rod
Stewart, Paul McCartney - you name it!"
A proud Brummie, Paul trained at Birmingham College of Food and
completed his apprenticeship in Zurich and London before joining
The NEC as a Head Chef in 1976. He was quickly promoted to Senior
Head Chef before becoming Executive Head Chef in 1988.
A huge supporter of training and development and getting
youngsters into the trade he says his most proudest moment of
the last 35 years is; "Setting up a training scheme to give
youngsters, with no formal education, an opportunity for chef
training."
Sally Davis Managing Director of Amadeus, added "Paul has been
an intrinsic part of The NEC Group since the company began and its
thanks to Paul and his team that food has become such a vital part
of our offer. The high quality we have enables our venues to
attract major national and international events such as Rotary
International, political party conferences and international
associations which are great not only for The NEC Group but for the
whole of the West Midlands."