One of the region's top chefs has been honoured with a lifetime
achievement award.
Paul Gould, Group Executive Head Chef at Amadeus, The NEC
Group's catering division was delighted to be awarded the top prize
at the FSM awards dinner in London on Monday (Nov 21).
Alyson Cawley, Managing Director of Amadeus said: "We are
delighted that Paul's hard work, commitment, passion and immense
creativity and vision have been recognised at the inaugural FSM
awards.
"He is a true star and his talent in leading his brigade to
meet his own unrivalled standards is evident in every dish that
leaves the kitchens of our venues."
Nominations for the award asked for people who "stand above
all others in their lifetime dedication to the UK's contract
catering sector".
It is not the first time Paul has been honoured by the industry.
Paul is the only British chef to have won all of the following: a
gold medal at the World Culinary Olympics; the Craft Guild of Chefs
Banqueting Award; the Grand Prix D'Honneur; and the Arthur Hope
Trophy at the British Cookery Open Championships. Paul has also
overseen the training of hundreds of young chefs, with a particular
knack for spotting raw talent, and is focussed on developing his
team, supporting them to net more than 600 major awards in recent
years.
A proud Brummie, Paul trained at Birmingham College of Food
before joining Amadeus 35 years ago as Head Chef. He became
Executive Head Chef in 1988.
During his career, Paul has overseen the production of millions
of dishes, with overall responsibility for 42 restaurants and 130
outlets across four NEC Group sites - the NEC, LG Arena, the ICC
and the NIA - and provides fantastic food for more than four
million visitors at around 900 annual events. He manages a team of
80 chefs.
He is well known within the industry for pushing boundaries of
high volume delivery, and has created menus and concepts for
hundreds, sometimes thousands, of diners at one time that were
previously thought impossible to achieve.
Paul said:"It's always great to win an award this was a
complete surprise and a real honour to be recognised by the
industry in this way."
In a further coup for Amadeus, Deputy Executive Head Chef Neil
Ashton made the shortlist for FSM Chef of the Year, ranking him in
the top three contract catering Chefs in the UK.
The awards were run by the FSM magazine and held at Kensington's
Royal Garden Hotel.
Photo caption: Paul Gould receives his Lifetime Achievement
award at Kensington's Royal Garden Hotel. L-R: Ashley Pinder of
Discovery Foods, the award sponsor, award winner Paul Gould, Alan
Dewberry of FSM Magazine and Mark Durden-Smith.